The Ultimate Power Lunch in Dallas

No one’s saying exactly what these 10 heavy hitters discussed as they chowed down before Bernanke’s remarks at the Sheraton Dallas earlier this year. But we have heard that, with Bernanke’s permission, Tom Leppert and Jim Oberwetter leaned across the chairman and swapped information about a potential corporate relocation to Dallas. Beyond that, why do we suspect the 10 might have mentioned energy, the economy, and federal regulation a time or two as well?

Who sat where?

2. Tom Leppert
Mayor of Dallas

3. Rex Tillerson
Chairman and CEO, ExxonMobil Corp.

4. Ross Perot Jr.
Chairman, Hillwood

5. Richard Fisher
President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

6. Ray L. Hunt
Chairman and CEO, Hunt Oil Co.

7. Mike Baggett
Chairman emeritus, Winstead PC; chairman-elect, Dallas Regional Chamber

8. Bob Best
Chairman and CEO, Atmos Energy Corp.; past chairman, Dallas Regional Chamber

9. David Corrigan
President and CEO, Corrigan Investments Inc.; chairman, Dallas Regional Chamber

10. James Oberwetter
President, Dallas Regional Chamber

What was said?

“We need tough new rules to make financial institutions safer and to constrain excessive risk-taking, and we need a regulatory framework that gives the Federal Reserve and other agencies the ability to address risks to the financial system as a whole.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke