John W. Stanton
John W. Stanton | |
|---|---|
 Stanton (third from right) in 2009 | |
| Born | 1955 |
| Alma mater | Whitman College (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Spouse | Theresa Gillespie |
John W. Stanton is an American businessman. He is the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) and has led several wireless communication companies.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Stanton was born in 1955.[3][4] A lifelong resident of the Seattle area,[5] John Stanton attended Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington.[3] He earned an undergraduate degree in Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.[6][7] He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.[3]
Career
[edit]Wireless companies
[edit]Stanton was the founder and former CEO of Western Wireless Corporation, former chairman and CEO of VoiceStream Wireless, and former chairman of the CTIA.[8][6]
He became the first employee of McCaw Cellular Communications in the early 1980s.[9] He was COO and vice chairman of McCaw Cellular in the 1980s.[3]
After he left McCaw he founded the company that became Western Wireless in 1992.[9] From 1992 to 2005, he was the CEO and chairman of Western Wireless.[3] He was the founder of Voicestream Wireless Corp.[9] Between 1995 and 2003, VoiceStream Wireless had him as chairman and CEO as well, with that company renamed T-Mobile USA after an acquisition.[3] In 2004, Stanton was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for his devotion to the industry.[10] From 2008 until 2013 he was director and then chairman of Clearwire.[3]
In 2005, he, Strive Masiyiwa, Bradley Horwitz, and others formed Trilogy International Partners.[11][12][13] At the start, Stanton had a $295 million equity stake in Trilogy.[12] In 2024, Trilogy announced that SG Enterprises, owned by Stanton and his wife Theresa Gillespie, had purchased all Trilogy shares and that Trilogy would be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.[14]
He is also chairman of Trilogy Equity and co-founder of Trilogy Search Partners.[15]
In 2006, Stanton's net worth was $1 billion.[16] Stanton was listed as #840 in the Forbes 2007 "Richest People" study. His net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion.[6] As of May 2025[update], he was listed as the 1,530th wealthiest person, with a net worth of $2.4 billion.[17]
Seattle Mariners
[edit]As one of 17 minority owners in the team,[5] in April 2016, Stanton was appointed as the new CEO of the Seattle Mariners organization after Nintendo sold its majority stake for $661 million.[5][18] Major League Baseball formally approved the sale of the Mariners to Stanton in August of that year.[19] Stanton took over as control person from retiring chairman Howard Lincoln.[19] Stanton became responsible for the Seattle Mariners day-to-day operations.[20]
In 2019, the team had few wins, with Stanton arguing the metric to look at was player success within a long-term plan.[21] In 2021, Stanton accepted the resignation of team president Kevin Mather, after Mather had confessed to manipulating the service time of Mariners prospects and made comments about the poor English-language skills of some of the team's foreign-born players. In a statement, Stanton said Mather's comments "were inappropriate and do not represent our organization's feelings about our players, staff, and fans."[22][23]
In 2024, Stanton said he regretted that team manager Scott Servais learned he was fired through media reports rather than directly the team. He also said that team spending must be sustainable over the long term,[24] which led to some criticism that the team spends less than its competitors.[25]
Boards
[edit]In 2014, he had chaired or co-chaired the Business Partnership for Early Learning, the United Way of King County campaign, the Washington Roundtable, and the Regional Transportation Commission.[3]
Stanton joined Microsoft's board of directors in July 2014.[3][26][27] He joined the compensation committee of the board.[3] He was also a director at Columbia Sportswear.[3]
Around 2016, he joined the board of Costco.[9] As of August 2016, Stanton reportedly owned approximately $45 million of stock in Columbia Sportswear, General Communication Inc., and other companies.[28]
He is a past chairman of the board of trustees of Whitman College.[6][7] In 2018, Whitman named a newly constructed residence hall after Stanton, who had graduated in 1977.[29]
Personal life
[edit]Stanton lives in Bellevue, Washington[7] with his wife Theresa Gillespie. They have two sons.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Founders & Senior Management Team". Trilogy International. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
- ^ "Insider Filings - STANTON JOHN W". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on 2015-05-10. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cook, John (July 30, 2014). "Wireless pioneer John Stanton named to Microsoft board in latest bid by software giant to gain ground in mobile". Geekwire. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Soper, Taylor (July 20, 2020). "Mariners owner and wireless industry vet John Stanton on T-Mobile/Sprint, future of retail, more". Geekwire.
- ^ a b c Johns, Greg (April 27, 2016). "Nintendo selling Mariners to minority owners". Seattle Mariners. Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ a b c d "The World's Billionaires — John Stanton". Forbes. March 8, 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
- ^ a b c "Trustees". Whitman College. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- ^ "Western Wireless Corporate Officers". Archived from the original on March 6, 2005.
- ^ a b c d Stewart, Ashley (April 27, 2016). "New Mariners CEO John Stanton is a 'shrewd and tough negotiator' who loves Seattle". Puget Sound Business Journal.
- ^ "John W. Stanton". WHF Hall of Fame. 2010. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
- ^ "Strive Masiyiwa Zimbabwe Businessman". Zimbabwe Today. April 23, 2017. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ a b Willis, Andrew (November 1, 2016). "Telecom company Trilogy coming to Canada in Alignvest deal". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Bradley Jay Horwitz". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Trilogy International Partners Inc. and SG Enterprises II, LLC Announce Completion of Go-Private Transaction" (Press release). Trilogy International Partners. March 28, 2024.
- ^ "John Stanton". Trilogy Equity.
- ^ "#746 John Stanton". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 18, 2006.
- ^ "John Stanton". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
- ^ Baker, Geoff (April 27, 2016). "CEO Howard Lincoln leaving Mariners with 'a few regrets'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ^ a b "MLB approves sale of Seattle Mariners, Stanton to take over". USA Today. August 18, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Soper, Taylor (April 27, 2016). "Meet John Stanton: What you need to know about the new Mariners CEO". Geekwire. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ Divish, Ryan (June 25, 2019). "Mariners owner John Stanton's view on the team's 'step-back' plan: Optimistic yet frustrated". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ "Seattle Mariners president/CEO Kevin Mather resigns after comments". ESPN.com. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
- ^ Bronsdon, Grant (2021-02-21). "Full Transcript of Mariners President Kevin Mather's Remarks to Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club". Lookout Landing. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ "Mariners owner discusses Servais' dismissal, payroll, future of club". MLB.com. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
- ^ Levine, Aaron (2024-10-06). "Commentary: Note to Stanton - the Mariners are average because of ownership, not market size". FOX 13 Seattle. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
- ^ Profile, bloomberg.com; accessed September 22, 2014.
- ^ Profile; accessed September 22, 2014.
- ^ "JOHN W STANTON Insider Trading Overview". www.insidermole.com. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- ^ "New Whitman College residence hall named for Seattle Mariners' Chair John Stanton '77". Whitman College. May 9, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
