Former Houston mayor Bill White, a Democrat running for governor, has acknowledged in public for the first time that he profited from his investment in a troubled oil exploration company.
During his 2003 mayoral run, he told the Houston Chronicle that he hadn't "made a penny" on his investment in Houston-based Frontera Resources, which he founded in 1996.
After initial success in the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia, Azerbaijan demanded more revenue. That forced Frontera to sell assets to pay off a $60 million loan.
As recently as June 21, White had told The Dallas Morning News that he thought he hadn't profited from the investment "very much because there were a lot of expenses."
Now, White acknowledges to the newspaper that he's made a $1.1 million profit since 2006 from selling some Frontera shares.
