Mary West (born 1945/46) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, the co-founder of West Corporation.

Mary West
Born1945 or 1946 (age 78–79)[1]
Known forco-founder, West Corporation
SpouseGary West

Early life

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Mary West has a high school diploma, but never attended college.[1] She grew up in Miami, and moved to Omaha part way through high school.[2]

Career

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In 1978, with her husband Gary, she co-founded WATS Telemarketing in the garage of their house in Omaha, Nebraska. They sold WATS in 1980 and in 1986 she founded West TeleServices which they took public in 1996.[1]

In 2008, she and her husband had a combined net worth of $2.2 billion.[3]

She owned 10% of West Corporation, a publicly traded telecommunications services provider headquartered in Omaha[1] which was taken private in 2017 as a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management .[4][5]

Philanthropy

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They have given away in excess of $400 million to "senior citizen wellness and cutting the nation's health care costs".[2]

Personal life

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She is married to Gary West, and they live in San Diego.[1] The Wests own Thoroughbred racing horses Maximum Security, Game Winner, and New Year's Day.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Mary West". Forbes. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "West Corp. founders' fortune to have a lasting impact | Money". omaha.com. March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  3. ^ Zina Moukheiber (September 18, 2013). "Gary And Mary West Want To Solve Health Care's Intractable Problems". Forbes.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  4. ^ "West Corp. CEO retires; Omaha company was sold to New York firm last month".
  5. ^ News, Bloomberg (November 18, 2004). "COMPANY NEWS; WEST TO BUY ECI CONFERENCE CALL SERVICES". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2013. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Shulman, Lenny (April 30, 2019). "Gary and Mary West Hope to Change Derby Fortunes". The Blood-Horse. Retrieved May 6, 2019.