Christopher Cline Net Worth, Career, Wife and Kids

Christopher Cline Net Worth   $2 billion

American philanthropist and billionaire mining entrepreneur Christopher Cline had a net worth of 2 billion dollars at the time of his passing in 2019 according to a Forbes report.

He was considered the primary owner of Foresight Reserves LP, a successful mineral mining company that is currently based in Palm Beach, Florida. Bloomberg referred to him as the King Coal during the prime years of his entrepreneurial career.

He played a significant role in revitalizing the coal industry in Illinois. Foresight Energy is known to produce an estimated 20 million tons of coal every year and controls more than four billion tons of coal, most of which are found in the state of Illinois.

As of March 2013, the late Christopher Cline already owned a 150-acre estate in Beckley, a yacht, and a 34,000-square-foot oceanfront mansion in Florida.

His company has more than 3 billion tons of coal deposits across Illinois and the Northern Appalachian Mountains.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

Mr. Chris Cline was born in Beckley, West Virginia, United States, on July 5, 1958, into the family of Paul Cline and Lassie Justice Cline. His grandfather mined for coal around Beckley, West Virginia, in the 20th century, using a pickaxe.

He studied psychology at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, but dropped out without a degree.

In 1980, when Cline was 21 years old, his father, Paul, bought out his partner from their business and gave the shares to Cline.

Professional Life: Business Career

In 1980 at age 21, Chris Cline became an underground miner and started his own energy development company named the Cline Group when he clocked 30.

In 2006 he organized Foresight Energy to control his Illinois Basin coal rights. Foresight Energy went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, and in the following year, the businessman sold off most of his share of Foresight for $1.4 billion.

The state of Illinois holds a 250-year supply of coal, serving as the largest recoverable coal reserve in the United States. In 2017, the state alone consumed nearly $1.4 billion of coal, with mining operations located in 12 counties.

In 2005, the businessman’s company, Cline Group, built its Williamson longwall mining business south of West Frankfort, Illinois. Cline also purchased a Nova Scotia metallurgical coal mine with some of the proceeds he earned from selling off Foresight stock. He also purchased rights to coal reserves in Western Canada.

Personal Life: Wife, Children, Private Interests, Death

At a point during his lifetime, Chris Cline had a relationship with Elin Nordegren, formerly married to the renowned American golfer Tiger Woods.

His first wife was Sabrina J. Holley Cline. Their relationship resulted in the birth of a daughter named Candice. In September 1987, Sabrina died from breast cancer. She was 28 years old.

In 1993, Cline married his second wife named Kelly, only for their marriage to end in a divorce 7 years later. They have two sons and two daughters together, namely Christopher Cline, Alex Tanner Cline, and Kameron Cline.

In 2011, his daughter Candice, who works as a director of a foundation, married the businessman James Graham Kenan.

Mr. Cline owned a 33,413-square-foot home in North Palm Beach, Florida, in addition to another massive home in his native Beckley, West Virginia. He owned two megayachts, which he sold at different intervals for undisclosed sums of money.

On July 4, 2019, Chris Cline died in a helicopter crash in the Bahamas at the age of 60. Other people also died with him, including his 22-year-old daughter Kameron and her friends Brittney Searson, Jillian Clark, and Delaney Wykle. The other casualties were golfer David Jude and the aircraft’s pilot, Geoffrey Lee Painter.

Philanthropic Endeavors

In May 2011, the Cline Family Foundation donated 5 million dollars to the School of Medicine and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics of West Virginia University.

The gift created the Christopher Cline Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery and also helped fund a new basketball practice facility. In July of the same year, Marshall University received a $5 million gift from Mr. Cline for sports medicine research.

Political Donations

In 2015, Jasper Reserves, LLC, owned by Chris Cline, donated a million dollars to Super PACs supporting the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush.

Christopher Cline Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

Mr. Chris Cline had a net worth of 2 billion dollars at the time of his death in 2019. Born in Beckley, West Virginia, Chris grew up in a coal-mining family.

He abandoned his education when he was 21 to focus on building his family’s business after his father handed his shares to him. Hardworking, committed, and goal-driven, Chris succeeded in growing the company into one of the most successful coal mining enterprises in the world.