Welcome Wilson, Sr. is the Chairman and CEO of River Oaks Financial Group, Inc. and the Chairman for GSL Welcome Group, LLC and also serves as a member of the Board of Regents for the University of Houston. River Oaks Financial Group provides debt and equity financing for TCP Holdings, LLC and other companies.  His River Oaks board responsibilities include equity placement and serving as Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Wilson is Chairman and Principal of Wilson Partners, an owner of 1.5 million SF of office, industrial and retail properties in Texas.  He is also Chairman of GSL Constructors, the builders of more than 500,000 SF of build-to-suit industrial office/warehouse space per year.  River Oaks Financial Group, Inc. and its predecessor company have provided financing for hundreds of real estate transactions including office buildings, retail centers, hotels, industrial properties and subdivisions.  It is also active in providing equity financing for other business enterprises, including the startup of EZ Pawn, the world’s second largest chain of pawn shops, and Dover Homes, a home building company which was sold in 1998 to Kaufman and Broad for $50 million.
Welcome Wilson, Sr. has over 50 years of experience in virtually every phase of real estate development, acquisition, finance and brokerage.  His experience includes the development of: over 1,000 apartment units, over 8,000 single family homesites in Texas and Louisiana, two 22 story office buildings in downtown Houston and several hotels, including the sixth Marriott Hotel built in the world in 1967.  Over time Mr. Wilson has owned more than 18,000 acres of land in seven counties of Texas.  He has also purchased and sold 22 tracts of land in downtown Houston.
Mr. Wilson’s public company experience includes having served in the 1970’s as Chairman and CEO of Aberdeen Petroleum Corporation, a company listed on the American Stock Exchange; Chairman and CEO of Homestead Bank; Chairman and CEO of Colonial Savings Association; and Chairman of First Federal Savings Association of Seabrook, Texas.  He was also a member of the Board and second largest shareholder of the Houston Sports Association, owner of the Houston Astros and operator of the Astrodome.
Mr. Wilson is active in national and state politics and in numerous charitable causes.  He served as special Ambassador to Nicaragua during the Lyndon Johnson Administration.  Through appointment by Dwight Eisenhower, Mr. Wilson served as Five State Director of Defense Mobilization and Regional Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during the Cold War.  He was an on-site witness of the atomic bomb tests in Nevada and the hydrogen bomb tests at Bikini Island.  For many years, Mr. Wilson has been active in community and charitable causes and has served on numerous boards, including as Chairman of the Heritage Society of the University of Houston (UH).  In 1970 he was named Distinguished Alumnus of UH, and in 1996, he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Business at UH.