Mary Anselmo (née Morton; September 21, 1929 – August 14, 2013) was an American billionaire businesswoman. She was the widow of

Rene Anselmo Reynold Vincent "Rene" Anselmo (January 14, 1926September 20, 1995) was an American businessman who founded the satellite company PanAmSat and co-founded the television network Univision. Early life Anselmo was born in Bedford, Massachusetts. Hi ...

, the founder of

PanAmSat PanAmSat Corporation was a satellite service provider headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1984 by Reynold "Rene" Anselmo, it operated a fleet of communications satellites used by the entertainment industry, news a ...

, the first privately held satellite communications company in the United States.

Career

Mary was born in

Omro, Wisconsin Omro is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,652 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located along the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River, approximately 10 miles west of Oshkos ...

. She met her husband Rene Anselmo in the 1950s while he was a guest director at

Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

. The couple married aroun 1955 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where Rene was working for

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

at the time. Mary's husband Rene Anselmo died in 1995, two days before the

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

of his company. For a time, Mary was principal owner of the company, although she had rarely been involved in her husband's business and said in a 1996 interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' that she knew little about satellites. When PanAmSat was bought by KKR and other private equity firms in 2004, she received a net $250 million. She has appeared on multiple occasions on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine list of wealthiest people in the world. According to the magazine's 2008 rankings, her net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion, and her rank was 1,014.

Personal life

She has three children: Reverge C. (born 1962), Pier (1953–2022), and Rayce Anselmo.Landler, Mark
"A Widow's Pique"
''

'', June 16, 1996 Mary died on August 14, 2013, and is buried in West Harwich, Massachusetts.

References

1929 births 2013 deaths People from Omro, Wisconsin American billionaires Female billionaires American emigrants to Mexico Businesspeople from Greenwich, Connecticut American women in business {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub