Coal Magnate Robert Murray Dead at 80, Days After Retiring

Coal magnate Robert Murray died at his home in Ohio less than a week after announcing his retirement as board chairman of a major U.S. coal operator.

Murray was an ally of President Donald Trump and a leading industry voice who called global warming a hoax.

Michael Shaheen, an attorney who had recently been representing Murray, confirmed the Sunday morning death of the 80-year-old in St. Clairsville to The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register.

Murray had announced his retirement Monday, Oct. 19, from American Consolidated Natural Resource Holdings Inc. The company is the largest privately owned U.S. coal operator with active mines in Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and Utah. Murray was the founder, president, and CEO of the company's predecessor, Murray Energy.

Murray Energy was launched in 1988. The company recently emerged from federal bankruptcy protection, with its Chapter 11 plan becoming effective last month.

No official cause of death was given. Public reports recently stated Murray applied for black lung benefits with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Murray worked underground as a coal miner for 16 years. Murray, a supporter of Republican Party politics who opposed more stringent coal dust regulations for years, wrote in his filing for benefits from the fund that he was near death and heavily dependent on an oxygen tank.

Murray had fought federal mine safety regulations for years, with his company filing an unsuccessful lawsuit in 2014 over regulations to cut the amount of coal dust in coal mines to reduce the incidence of black lung disease.

Murray remained an unrelenting booster for the coal industry, even after experiencing its dangers first hand.

His father was paralyzed from the neck down in a mining accident when Murray was 9 years old, and Murray broke his neck twice in mining accidents.

"I've got a birdcage of titanium and vanadium between (vertebrae) C2 and C8," Murray told Reuters in a 2013 interview, pulling back his collar to show a scar running down the back of his neck, the trace of a past surgery.

Shaheen said a private memorial service for Murray was scheduled for Tuesday.

“Saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Murray,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia tweeted. “He was a staunch ally for coal miners, a good friend, and a one of a kind person.”

This report contains material from The Associated Press and Reuters.