Stephen Bechtel Jr., 95, Dies; Led Familyâs Giant Engineering Firm
He modernized the Bechtel Group as it oversaw construction on scores of megaprojects, including the Bay Area transit system and Saudi Arabiaâs Jubail Industrial City.
Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. and a Boy Scout, Garvin Hoffman, held a time capsule at the 2013 national Boy Scout jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in southern West Virginia. His foundation donated $50 million to create the reserve. Credit.Rick Barbero/The Register-Herald, via Associated Press
March 15, 2021
Stephen D. Bechtel Jr., who took over his familyâs global engineering and construction company, elevating its already formidable reputation and transforming what had been a hidebound, top-down hierarchy into a modern, if secretive, corporation, died on Monday at his home in San Francisco. He was 95.
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Stephen Bechtel Jr., the third-generation heir of the Bechtel Corp. construction empire who led its global drive for 30 years and provided President Reagan with key Cabinet members, has died at his home in San Francisco.
The company said Bechtel died Monday at 95. No cause of death was given.
The Stanford-educated engineer became a billionaire while leading the San Francisco-based firm’s expansion through “mega-projects” in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Canada.
At 35, he took over as president from his father in 1960 and oversaw contracts for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in north San Diego County, the Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia and the James Bay hydroelectric project in Canada. In less than two decades, he doubled the company’s size, according to its website.