President Donald Trump has pardoned former Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke, months after a federal grand jury indicted him on a conspiracy charge, accusing him of rigging the bidding process to oversee the Moody Center at the University of Texas in Austin.
Leiweke, who has since parted ways with the venue management company, led Oak View Group when it took over Dallas’ Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and Fair Park operations. Park officials severed the relationship about a month before the indictment was announced.
“I do not have the words to adequately convey my profound gratitude to President Trump,” Leiweke said in a statement. “This has been a long and difficult journey for my wife, my daughter, and me. The President has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards.”
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division alleged that between 2018 and 2024, Leiweke tried to get a competing venue-services company to back down from bidding against Oak View Group by offering the competitor potential subcontracts. In the end, Oak View Group was the sole applicant available to manage and use the $338 million Moody Center arena.
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At the time the indictment dropped, Leiweke said he had done nothing wrong.
“This is the right result, and we are happy for our client and his family,” David Gerger, Leiweke’s counsel, said in a statement.
In 2019, Dallas handed the keys to the convention center to Spectra, which the Oak View Group later acquired.
The same venue management company also took over Fair Park and was embroiled in controversy over the misspending of $5.7 million in donor funds. Recently, the city terminated its contract with Oak View Group and began a new audit to review the park’s finances and determine where city dollars and generated revenue were spent.
Oak View Group released a statement Thursday saying, “We are happy for Tim that he can now put this matter behind him. Oak View Group has remained steadfastly focused on delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients under the leadership of our CEO Chris Granger.”