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H.R. ‘Bum’ Bright, 84; Businessman, Former Dallas Cowboys Owner

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From Times Wire Reports

H.R. “Bum” Bright, 84, a former owner of the Dallas Cowboys and a leading Texas businessman, died Sunday at his home in Highland Park, Texas, after a long illness.

Born in Muskogee, Okla., Bright grew up in Texas and graduated from Texas A&M; University. He served as a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. After the war, Bright returned to Texas and started buying up gas and oil leases. He was a millionaire by the time he was 31.

From oil and gas, he turned his attention to trucking, banks, real estate and saving and loans.

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Bright and 11 limited partners bought the Cowboys from the team’s founder, Clint Murchison, in 1984 for a reported $85 million. He sold it to the team’s current owner, Jerry Jones, for $170 million in 1989. The team is now worth an estimated $923 million, according to Forbes magazine.

“Our agreement on the purchase of the Dallas Cowboys was finalized with a few notes on a napkin and a handshake,” Jones said in a statement. “With Bum, his word meant everything.”

Bright also was a member of the Texas A&M; Board of Trustees, and donated $25 million to the university in 1997.

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Bright had his share of business reversals. At the height of the Texas banking crisis in 1988, he lost $29 million in stock when First RepublicBank Corp. collapsed.

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