US billionaire Kelcy Warren reported as Waterford Airport investor

US oil billionaire Kelcy Warren has been reported as the €30 million investor behind Waterford Airport by the Irish Times.

Mr Warren (70) is the founder and Executive Chairman of Energy Transfer LP, a midstream company that was founded as a Texas gas pipeline operator in 1996.

Bloomberg’s billionaire index values Mr Warren’s net worth at $8.26 billion, placing him as the 438th wealthiest person in the world.

Energy Transfer LP currently operates over 135,000 miles of pipelines with assets in 44 of the US’s 50 states.

Mr Warren is a long-time supporter of the Republican Party and U.S. President Donald Trump.

His property portfolio includes a private island in Honduras and a $46.5 million ranch in Colorado. As of 2024, he lived in a 23,000-square-foot home on an eight-acre estate in Preston Hollow, Dallas.

In 2018, he bought the Castletown Cox estate in Kilkenny for €12.6 million. The estate is a 40-minute drive from Waterford Airport.

In August, planning permission was sought to build a private whiskey distillery at Castletown Cox. Developers Rosebrack Ltd framed the project as “a legacy project” for the estate.

Planning permission for the project was granted in January 2026.

Speaking on WLR’s Déise Today in October, director of Waterford Airport Ltd William Bolster said he had met with the investor, who he didn't name, both in Ireland and the United States.

Mr Bolster said he was first approached by the investor following a meeting with then Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless, TD, in October 2024, in which government support for the airport appeared to be wavering.

Mr Warren is expected to assume control of Waterford Airport Ltd as construction for the airport’s extended runway begins in 2026.