By Angela Gonzales | Phoenix Business Journal
Michael Ingram is a cowboy at heart.
The founder, chairman and CEO of Scottsdale-based El Dorado Holdings Inc. is most comfortable in jeans and a cowboy hat — even his office is adorned with pictures and statues of horses as well as chairs that resemble saddles.
Born and raised in a small rural farming community in New Mexico as an only child, Ingram’s father died when he was 13, leaving him to help his mother run his parents’ motel — serving as chambermaid, desk clerk and maintenance man. In his spare time, he bailed hay for a local farmer for a dollar an hour and was a lifeguard at the public swimming pool.
