Bricks manufactured by Butler Brick and salvaged from demolition of UT’s Old Main make up the inner walls and air shafts of the UT Tower. Old Main was built of Butler Brick in the late 1800s and demolished in 1934.
Aaron Martinez/American-Statesman
As Matthew Galvez’s company was dying, so was he. The owner of Bastrop-based Elgin Butler Co. had a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis and, unable to manage the operation, handed the reins to a colleague and friend.
Elgin Butler, which was originally known as Butler Brick Co., provided building materials throughout the state and internationally for 150 years. Its bricks were used in most of the original buildings at the University of Texas at Austin and in parts of the UT Tower. Between 2 million and 3 million of them were used in the Texas Capitol building.
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Galvez lived, but alleges in court filings that, while he battled cancer, the man he turned to for help instead helped himself. He says Douglas Land stripped him of his ownership and sold off the principal assets including hundreds of acres of property in a series of maneuvers he alleges were fraudulent.
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“Galvez entrusted Land to operate the business and preserve that tradition while Galvez struggled with life-threatening health issues,” the suit says. “Land, in conspiracy with others, betrayed that trust.”
Galvez now is seeking full access to the company’s books, an injunction and more than $29 million in damages and non-monetary relief from Land and other defendants. His lawsuit alleges fraud, unjust enrichment, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract.
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Land’s attorney, though, says the company was beyond recovery by the time his client came in to help.
“This case is an unfortunate example of the old adage no good deed goes unpunished,” Jon Patton, Land’s attorney, said in an email. “Contrary to the false narrative in Mr. Galvez’s lawsuit, Mr. Land bailed out his longtime friend and salvaged what he could of a company Mr. Galvez had run into the ground.”
The Texas State Capitol over the Austin Skyline, May 14, 2026. Millions of Elgin Butler bricks make up the core of the building.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
The financial condition of the private company could not be independently assessed by the Austin American-Statesman. Galvez’s attorney did not respond to email messages seeking comment.
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A brickmaker’s decline and disputed rescue
The Butler family had controlled the company from its founding in 1873 until 2005. That’s when Galvez, with a minority investor and financing from the U.S. Small Business Administration and San Antonio-based Frost Bank, purchased it.
Michael Butler, lower right in this undated family photo, started the Butler Brick Co. on land where Town Lake Park now sits.
Austin-American Statesman archives
According to the company’s public loan filings, it secured several other loans through the next 15 years, purchasing other companies along the way. Galvez purchased both California-based McIntyre Tile and Trikeenan Co., a New York-based tile maker. The company also accrued, according to public documents, several tax liens ranging from $8,000 to more than $90,000.
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Galvez suffered a near-fatal heart attack in 2015 and was newly diagnosed with potentially terminal cancer in 2020.
That is when he asked Land, a New York financial advisor who was also the executor of Galvez’s estate, to help him restructure the company for a possible sale. Land joined the enterprise as a minority owner, according to the suit.
But Galvez says in court filings that the plan was not executed as he had approved and that Land went rogue in an effort to push him out and raid the coffers through self-dealing, concealing transactions and misappropriating funds.
In 2024, the complaint says, Land informed Galvez the company was not profitable. Its employees had been laid off and the assets sold. The land was sold to a group that did not want to continue its long history of making bricks.
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Galvez said he was offered $100,000 in exchange for his millions in equity and that Land refused to show him the financial data or reveal the identity of the buyer. Galvez said he had even sold his $5 million life insurance policy to inject capital into Elgin Butler.
A worker at Butler Brick is seen in this undated photo from the Austin History Center.
Austin History Center
He said that Land created Elgin Butler Brick Co. LLC and, without his knowledge, transferred ownership of core assets to the new company. Galvez allegest that, in violation of their signed agreement, Land also stripped him of his ownership. Galvez alleged Land used shell companies DSL Capital Group and Chesapeake Group, both also defendants in the suit, to do it.
“According to Land, Galvez was no more entitled to a share of the sale of Elgin Butler assets or financial information than a stranger off the street,” the suit said.
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Allegations over asset sales and company finances
Galvez alleges that Frank Goldberg and Briar Capital also were co-conspirators in the effort. Goldberg founded Briar Capital, which is a commercial real estate lender focused on credit-challenged and cash-strapped businesses. He and the company declined to comment.
Galvez alleges misdeeds beyond his own financial issues.
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He said Land took out $570,000 in COVID-era loans for the company without his knowledge, that Land may have kept insurance money from the devastating winter storm of 2021 for himself rather than using it to repair the factory and that Land sold the hundreds of acres the company sits on to a new company named Elgin FM 696 Property Owner LLC — in which he had an interest. He alleges the sale price was artificially reduced and that Land and other owners are positioned to make a windfall selling to the ever-expanding data center market in Central Texas.
On Tuesday, the case was removed to Texas Business Court and then to U.S. federal court in Austin.