Take A Look Inside Welcome Wilson Sr.'s Office
Welcome Wilson Sr., the chairman of The Welcome Group, owns 4M SF of industrial facilities in 87 locations throughout Texas. Wilson is known as a real estate powerhouse, but also as a notable figure in Texas politics and for his contributions to the University of Houston. Bisnow peeked through the historical moments captured by photos and other objects found inside his office.
Related: Read our profile on Wilson's career.
E.E. "Jack" Wilson dropped his two sons Welcome and Jack off at the University of Houston in 1946. He paid the tuition for a semester and rent for a month and then gave each of them $50. He told them if they needed anything to call him and he would explain how they could live without it. Wilson said that was the last time he was financially dependent on his father.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced the manned spacecraft center, later named the Johnson Space Center, at Rice University Stadium in Houston. Welcome Wilson Sr. sat behind the president and was assigned by Houston Mayor Lewis Cutrer to host the event.
Wilson pictured with President Donald Trump and his grandson Welcome Wilson III at a party in River Oaks in 2016.
On the left is a sword from the king of Berbers in Algeria. Wilson received it from Treasury Secretary John Connolly during a state visit. On the right is a Spanish sword Wilson purchased in Mexico about 50 years ago.
Lyndon B. Johnson named Wilson Sr. ambassador to Nicaragua in 1967. The photo shows Wilson Sr. with Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
This antique Afghan rifle was given to Wilson by an ex-CIA agent who worked undercover in Afghanistan, who got it from a warlord.
Sam Rayburn, the U.S. House Speaker, visiting Wilson's office in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Wilson spent most of his time in Houston but had an office in Dallas for political meetings.
Lyndon B. Johnson met with Wilson in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. LBJ was running against John F. Kennedy at the time for the Democratic nomination for president in 1960.
The Wilsons' home in River Oaks, where he and his wife, Joanne, raised their five children.
Wilson acquired his first industrial properties from Gustave "Gus" Levy when he purchased Levy's development company, GSL Construction Ltd., in 1998.
