ARLINGTON, Texas — This story was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. Read it here.
Donald R. Horton — founder and namesake of one of the country's largest homebuilders, D.R. Horton Inc. — has died, the company said May 17. He was 74.
The cause and date of his death were not disclosed, but the company called it a "sudden passing."
Horton had also been chairman of the company since its founding. David Auld, D.R. Horton's executive vice chairman, has been elevated to executive chairman of the board.
Horton "worked tirelessly to build a national homebuilding operation with a strong company culture, and the impact of his personal involvement with our team of operators across the United States has contributed immeasurable value to our company and people," Auld stated.
Horton founded D.R. Horton in 1991 in Fort Worth, although its predecessor companies date back to 1978, and took it public in 1992.
Now based in Arlington, D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) ranks among the very largest builders in the United States, closing on 87,801 single-family homes for the 12 months that ended March 31. Its fiscal 2023 revenue of nearly $35.5 billion ranked No. 5 among all public companies based in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro, according to a Dallas Business Journal analysis of securities filings. It also has more than 13,000 employees.
D.R. Horton remains a force in homebuilding in DFW and is active in dozens of communities across DFW. Its mortgage arm, DHI, is the second-largest home mortgage lender in the Metroplex as well, according to LendingPatterns.com data analyzed by DBJ.
The company under Horton has "had the privilege of helping more than one million American individuals and families achieve homeownership," Auld said.
Horton is survived by his wife, Marty, two children and four grandchildren.
