William Myron Keck

William Myron Keck (April 27, 1880 – August 20, 1964) was an American businessman and philanthropist . He was best known as the founder of Superior Oil Company, author Kevin Krajick has described Keck as "the world's greatest oil prospector, a man whose instincts about the location of petroleum were so uncanny, some believed him clairvoyant." Keck established the W. M. Keck Foundation. Early life William Myron Keck was born on April 27, 1880. After his father left home to work in the oil fields, he landed a job selling sandwiches and candy on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to support his mother. Business career Drilling as a speculator In his younger years, he became a "roustabout" in the oil business in Pennsylvania, before making his way to California. In California, he worked as a speculator drilling wells on contract for big oil companies. He often would take payment as leases instead of cash. He struck oil in Huntington Beach and in California's Kettleman Hills oil fields. Keck was very successful as an oil prospector. In one instance at the height of the oil boom in the 1920s in Los Angeles, he was the only "wildcatter" to purchase a retain a lease on 300 acres of Andrew Joughin's farm outside Torrance. While other prospectors turned away from the property, Keck's "46 highly productive wells were considered one of California's most successful oil-drilling projects.