Ruth Monicka Parasol (born February 27, 1967) is an American businesswoman and lawyer who founded

PartyGaming PartyGaming plc was a network of gambling sites operated by Ruth Parasol in the Caribbean. Founded in 1997, the network eventually operated under an umbrella company called iGlobalMedia, which then changed its name to PartyGaming. PartyGaming's fl ...

in 1997. The company floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2005 for US$8.46 billion. It was then a record valuation and the largest online poker room. The company grew to generate more than $500 million in annual profits by 2005 and then floated its IPO on the London Stock Exchange at a value of £4.64 billion ($8.46 billion), and in September of that year was admitted to the FTSE 100 list of companies - a first for a female founded and spearheaded company. By the end of 2015, Parasol sold her final shares. In 2010, ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' ranked her 15th of the world's wealthiest self-made women. According to the ''

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and has been published as a magazine supplement by British national ...

'' in 2020, Parasol has an estimated net worth of £780 million.

Personal life

Parasol was born in 1967 in San Francisco, California. She is the eldest daughter of Guna Parasol, who is Swedish, and Richard Parasol, a Jewish-Polish

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

who served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. Richard eventually emigrated to study mechanical engineering at

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

. Richard worked as an engineer for several years and then went on to become a real estate developer. Parasol grew up in

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...

, graduated from

Marin Academy Marin Academy (familiarly known as MA) is a private school, private college preparatory high school in San Rafael, California. Located on the campus that for decades housed the San Rafael Military Academy prior to its closure, Marin Academy was ...

in 1984, and received a B.A. in Business from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

in 1988. After earning her

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Western State College of Law at Argosy University Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. Founded in 1966, it was acquired by Westcliff University in 2019. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the Ame ...

in 1992, Parasol worked for her father's real estate management business. Parasol also amassed a small fortune in the business of online pornography and the operation of phone sex lines. In 2003, Parasol married Russ DeLeon. They moved with their children to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in 2004. They separated in 2010, and were decreed divorced in early 2014. Parasol continues to reside primarily in Gibraltar and to maintain homes in Israel, London, and Spain.

Involvement in the gaming industry

Parasol launched Starluck Casino Online in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

in 1997. In 1998, she made software engineer

Anurag Dikshit Anurag Dikshit (; born 1973) is an Indian businessman. In 2006 Dikshit became head of the online poker company PartyGaming's research and special projects. By 2009, ''Forbes'' described him as a billionaire. In connection with PartyGaming, in ...

a partner in her business, which later became known as PartyGaming Plc. In turn, Dikshit made Parasol a partner in his IT services business based in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Vikrant Bhargava and Russ DeLeon joined as principals of Party Gaming in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Parasol and her ex-husband served as consultants to PartyGaming Plc until December 2006, and they sold their remaining shares in 2015. After the launch of PartyPoker.com in 2001, PartyGaming Plc grew to generate more than $500 million in annual profits by 2005. In June 2005, PartyGaming Plc floated its IPO on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

at a value of £4.64 billion ($8.46 billion), and in September of that year was admitted to the

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most market capitalisation, highly capitalised ...

list of companies. In October 2006, PartyGaming publicly withdrew from the U.S. market after the passage of the

Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) is United States legislation regulating online gambling. It was added as Title VIII to the SAFE Port Act (found at ) which otherwise regulated port security. The UIGEA prohibits g ...

, a piece of anti-gambling legislation approved by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

as part of the

SAFE Port Act The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (or SAFE Port Act, ) was an Act of Congress in the United States covering port security and to which an online gambling measure was added at the last moment. The House and Senate passed ...

. As a result, the company’s share price dropped 60% and the company subsequently withdrew from the FTSE 100 Index. In 2008, Anurag Dikshit pleaded guilty to violation of the

Federal Wire Act The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act, is a United States federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the United States. It begins with the text: Several legal opinions and rulin ...

, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, and personally paid $300 million to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

as part of his plea. In 2009, PartyGaming entered a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and paid a fine of $105 million. In 2011, the Justice Department reversed its earlier position, determining that the

does not apply to online poker and casino games, only to sports betting.

Parasol Foundation Trust

Parasol is the Principal Benefactress and Trustee Director, a Gibraltar-based independent philanthropic organization that was founded 2004. As of 2020, the Trust has given over GBP £30 million in donations. The Parasol Trust's grant making focuses on non-profit organizations in the areas of health, the environment and cultural heritage. The Parasol Trust works with organizations such as The Red Cross, The University of Cambridge, Tel Aviv University, Technion University, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Prince’s Trust, the British Council and MacMillan Cancer Support. The trust also has a special interest in using new technologies and Internet solutions to aid charitable programs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parasol, Ruth 1967 births 21st-century American businesspeople American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Swedish descent Living people People from Mill Valley, California University of San Francisco alumni Western State University College of Law alumni