HOUSTON -- Well-known Houston oil man, former ambassador to Austria, and philanthropist Roy M. Huffington died Friday night. He was 90.

Huffington died while travelling abroad, according to funeral home George H. Lewis and Sons.

Huffington began his career as a geologist before serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. When he returned, Huffington became a field geologist for Humble Oil Co. He later established his own gas and oil exploration company, Huffco., in 1956.

The company struck a groundbreaking production-sharing contract with the government of Indonesia. The company sold for roughly $600 million.

In the early 1990s, former President George H.W. Bush appointed Huffington as his ambassador to Austria.

Former President Bush said in a statement, “Houston has lost a great citizen in Roy Huffington. Not only was he one of the country’s great entrepreneurs, he was also a pioneer in the oil business and gave selflessly of his time and energy.”

Huffington founded the Huffington Foundation, which donated millions of dollars to Houston charities, and also served as the chairman of the New York-based Asia Society for more than seven years in the 1980s.

Huffington and his wife, who died in 2003, also established the Huffington Center on Aging at the Baylor College of Medicine.

A visitation was tentative scheduled for July 20. A memorial service was tentatively planned for July 21 at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston.

Huffington is survived by his two children, Terry and Michael.