Steven J. Kean earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a law degree from the University of Iowa. Intending to become a lawyer he instead became a lobbyist and an executive. Steven joined Enron Corp. and climbed the corporate ladder becoming chief of staff for the late Ken Lay, the former CEO of energy company which had a spectacular collapse. He left after the company entered bankruptcy in 2001 and joined Kinder Morgan. Unlike his boss Steven was never criminally charged and his civil case was dropped.
Steven became known at Kinder Morgan as someone good at ironing out details of complex acquisitions. The company bought 3,400 miles of pipeline from Tejas Gas in 2002, more than doubling the mileage gas pipe it has been running through Texas. It was also during this time that Steve was hired by the company as a young executive.
In a matter of months he was leading the drive to integrate the newly bought pipeline asset into the business of Kinder Morgan. Steven’s work would set the groundwork for the company’s eventual status as the largest natural gas infrastructure operator in North America. It also set him as a front running contender to succeed company co-founder and CEO Richard Kinder.
He became chief operating officer in January 2006. A few months before that he had joined the company’s executive inner circle when he was included in its Office of the Chairman, a triumvirate that at the time comprised Steven, Richard, and then-president Park Shaper.
Steven had a central and increasingly public leadership role by 2013. It was announced in December 2014 that Steven would succeed Richard Kinder as CEO, this didn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Steven is now responsible for developing and executing the company’s vision and strategy and allocating capital to Kinder Morgan business units in a discipline manner. He also coordinates the company’s efforts to achieve operational excellence.
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