Collin County Living Well Magazine Fall 2013 | Page 55
His advice to people to stay sharp as long as he has?
Don’t Retire.
Pickens announces an innovative $50 million donation to the MD Anderson Cancer in Houston, TX.
Advice for the future
At age 85 today, Pickens still maintains his high level of physical fitness. He proudly displays the results of his daily workout routine by pulling up his pants leg to show us. “My calves have been the same size for the last 20 years! That doesn’t look like the calf on an 85-year-old man!” You would be hard pressed to guess Pickens’ actual age just by looking at him––he looks and moves like a much younger man. Not only that, but Pickens is just as quick-witted now as he was 60 years ago. When asked how he maintains his mental acuity, Pickens says that the simplest thing he has done is to “just stay occupied.” He is constantly challenging his mind by putting himself out of his comfort zone and trying new things. He has joined the ranks of millions of young people using social media, which many people half his age still resist. Pickens has become well known for his exploits on Twitter. Recently, super-model Heide Lindgren tweeted to him that she is a big fan, to which Pickens tweeted back, “Hey I’m 85. You’re welcome to be my granddaughter any time.” When rap music mega-star Drake tweeted, “The first million is the hardest,” Pickens countered back with, “The first billion is a helluva lot harder,” a reference to his bestselling book, The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections
on a Life of Comebacks and America’s Energy Future. This short exchange between Pickens and Drake created a storm of retweets and online buzz, earning Pickens the title of ‘coolest billionaire on Twitter.’ His advice to people looking to stay sharp as long as he has? “Don’t retire is one thing,” says Pickens. He recalls, “When I worked for Philips Petroleum, I read the company newsletter every week. On the back of it they had the list of retirees and the notices of employees and former employees who had died. Eventually I noticed people were dying soon after they retired!” Pickens still goes to work every day just like he has for decades. As for any possibility of retirement, Pickens has said firmly, “I’m not going to be part of that.” He has led an active and healthy lifestyle, and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon. He continues to manage his hedge fund, BP Capital Management, with nearly constant attention to movement in the energy markets. Pickens also stays busy with conservation work on his 68,000-acre ranch, Mesa Vista, where he still indulges his passion for quail hunting. T. Boone Pickens built an energy empire by embracing the risks of high-stakes business and now he’s enjoying the rewards of his life-long investment in health and wellness.
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