Mary West has a high school diploma, but never attended college.
[2] In 1978, with her husband Gary, she co-founded WATS Telemarketing in the garage of their house in Omaha, Nebraska.
[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] They have given away in excess of $400 million to "senior citizen wellness and cutting the nation's health care costs".
[1] The Wests own Thoroughbred racing horses Maximum Security, Game Winner, and New Year's Day.