Mary West (born 1945/46) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, the co-founder of
West Corporation.
Early life
Mary West has a high school diploma, but never attended college.
She grew up in Miami, and moved to Omaha part way through high school.
Career
In 1978, with her husband Gary, she co-founded WATS Telemarketing in the garage of their house in
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
, Nebraska. They sold WATS in 1980 and in 1986 she founded West TeleServices which they took
public in 1996.
In 2008, she and her husband had a combined net worth of $2.2 billion.
She owned 10% of
West Corporation, a publicly traded telecommunications services provider headquartered in Omaha
which was taken private in 2017 as a subsidiary of
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
.
Philanthropy
They have given away in excess of $400 million to "senior citizen wellness and cutting the nation's health care costs".
Personal life
She is married to Gary West, and they live in
San Diego.
The Wests own
Thoroughbred racing horses
Maximum Security,
Game Winner, and
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
.
References
1940s births
Living people
People from Omaha, Nebraska
People from San Diego
Businesspeople from Nebraska
American company founders
American women company founders
American racehorse owners and breeders
American philanthropists
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