Robert Murray, Coal Baron Who Lauded Trump Policies, Retires (1)

Robert Murray, one of the coal industry’s most influential voices, is retiring after decades of promoting and then defending a fuel that went from indispensable to vilified in his lifetime.

Murray, 80, is stepping down as chairman of ACNR Holdings Inc., the restructured company that last month emerged from bankruptcy almost a year after his namesake Murray Energy Corp. sought protection from creditors.

Robert Murray

Photographer: Kenny Crookston/Bloomberg

Murray started working in coal mines as a teenager, and in 1988 founded the company that eventually grew into the largest closely held U.S. coal producer. In recent years, as demand for the fuel waned, ...