Don Blankenship
Donald Leon Blankenship (born March 14, 1950) is an American business executive, political candidate, and a convicted criminal. He was chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth-largest coal company (by 2008 production) in the United States[2]—from 2000 until 2010 when an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch Mine resulted in the death of 29 workers. He was imprisoned for 1 year for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards.[3]
Not to be confused with Dan Blankenship, landowner involved in the Oak Island mystery.
Don Blankenship
Republican (before 2018)
Constitution (2018–2023)
Democratic (2023–present)
2
Conspiracy to violate mine safety and health standards
1 year in federal prison
$250,000 fine[1]
On December 3, 2015, Blankenship was found guilty of one misdemeanor charge of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety and health standards in relation to the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion, and was sentenced to one year in prison.[1]
He has frequently spoken out about politics, the environment, unions, and coal production. In 2018, Blankenship lost a three-way Republican primary for the U.S. Senate to Patrick Morrisey.[4]
Citing false information and dirty politics for his loss and claiming a personal unwillingness to quit,[5] Blankenship attempted to run as the Constitution Party nominee, but was unable to get on the ballot and later endorsed Morrisey.[6][7][8] In January 2024, he declared his candidacy as a Democrat for the United States Senate seat held by retiring Senator Joe Manchin in the 2024 election.[9] Blankenship had switched his party registration sometime in 2023.[10]
Early life and education[edit]
Blankenship was born in Stopover, Kentucky, and raised in Delorme, West Virginia. His father served in the Korean War and his mother, Nancy McCoy, was a member of the McCoy family. The two divorced soon after Blankenship was born, and with the money from her divorce settlement Blankenship's mother ran a convenience store and gas station for 40 years.[11] After graduating from Matewan High School in Matewan, West Virginia, in 1968, Blankenship earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University in 1972 in three school years, having worked as a coal miner during summertime.[12][13][14]
Blankenship is certified as a public accountant.[15] In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Business and Industry Hall of Fame.[16] Blankenship has also been included in the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.[15]
Business career[edit]
Blankenship joined Massey Energy subsidiary Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. He went on to serve Massey Energy in a number of capacities.[17][18] He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief operating officer from 1990 to 1991.[19] In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey.[19] He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company. When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000,[20] Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO. On December 3, 2010, Blankenship announced that he was retiring as CEO at the end of the year and would be succeeded by Massey President Baxter F. Phillips Jr.[21] Blankenship had a reputation for resistance to spending money, willingness to litigate for contract difficulties, and personally going into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts.[22] In a 1980s documentary, he said, "It's like a jungle, where a jungle is survival of the fittest. Unions, communities, people—everybody's gonna have to learn to accept that in the United States you have a capitalist society, and that capitalism, from a business standpoint, is survival of the most productive."[23]
In 1996, Blankenship was elected to the board of directors of engineering and construction company Fluor Corporation.[24] He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association, Mission West Virginia Inc, and was on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.[17][25][26]
Blankenship was paid $17.8 million (~$24.6 million in 2023) in 2009, the highest in the coal industry. It was a $6.8 million raise over 2008, and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also received a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million (~$37.6 million in 2023) in 2009.[27]
In 2011, Blankenship incorporated McCoy Coal Group, a coal company in Kentucky (not to be confused with the James River Coal Company subsidiary McCoy-Elkhorn Coal Corp). McCoy has yet to seek mining permits.[28]
Controversies[edit]
Deborah May[edit]
A former employee of Blankenship, Deborah May, filed a lawsuit claiming that stress from personal abuse forced her to quit her job in November 2005. The lawsuit claimed that such comparatively minor mistakes as a wrong breakfast order from McDonald's, misplaced ice cream in the freezer, and an improperly hung jacket in the closet caused difficulties with Blankenship.[67]
In June 2008, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that May was entitled to unemployment benefits because due to "the unrefuted evidence" that Blankenship had "physically grabbed" May, had thrown food after she brought back the wrong fast-food order, and tore a tie rack and coat hanger out of a closet after she forgot to leave the hanger out for his coat. Blankenship's conduct, referred to as "shocking" by the court, contributed to their decision that May should get unemployment benefits as she was in effect fired because she was put in a position where she felt compelled to quit.[68]
Personal life[edit]
Blankenship has two children.[106] He was profiled in a 2005 West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentary, The Kingmaker.[107]