Ruth Parasol
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Ruth Parasol is a co-founder of PartyGaming with her husband Russ DeLeon.
Born in 1967 in San Francisco, USA, Ruth is the eldest daughter of Jewish Polish born Holocaust survivor Richard Parasol and Swedish mother Guna Parasol. After graduating from Western State University College of Law in 1992 she embarked on a career in business with her entrepreneurial father, initially in his real estate management and phone sex businesses. In 1994, Parasol went on to start her own phone sex and online adult entertainment businesses from which she sold-out in 1996.
In 2006, Parasol was ranked #197 on Forbes' 400 Richest Americans. [1]
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[edit] Involvement in the adult entertainment industry
Ruth Parasol and Seth Warshavsky invested millions of dollars in phone porn companies that were sued by North Carolina and Nevada authorities for alleged improper billing and collection practices that included threatening to seize a person's property.
Warshavsky was a protege of Seattle phone sex entrepreneur Ian Eisenberg, who was advised by attorney and phone sex business veteran Parasol. Eisenberg mailed phony "rebate" checks for $3.50 to millions of households. The fine print on the checks stated that by cashing the check, the recipient agreed to pay up to $29.95 for Internet service. Subsequently, the FTC filed charges, and Eisenberg and company were ordered to pay $17 million in restitution.[2]
Parasol was a fixture at adult entertainment industry gatherings until 1999.
[edit] Involvement in the gaming industry
In 1997, Parasol launched Starluck Casino Online in the Caribbean and in 1998 met and partnered with software engineer, Anurag Dikshit. At the time, she made Dikshit a partner in her online casino business, and in turn Anurag made Parasol a partner in his IT services business in India. Parasol's expertise is electronic payment processing, website content management, online gaming regulations and international taxation.
In 2001, they launched PartyPoker.com and PartyGaming grew dramatically to over $500 million in annual profits by 2005. In June 2005, PartyGaming Plc floated on the London Stock Exchange and in September was admitted to the FTSE 100 list of companies. In October 2006, PartyGaming pulled out of the US market leading to a 60% drop in its value and speculation in newspapers that the company would exit the FTSE 100.
Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon were married in California in 2003. Since January 2004, they have lived in Gibraltar where they now have three children. Today Parasol acts as a consultant to PartyGaming in additional to her work as mother and homemaker. [3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Forbes: The 400 Richest Americans. Retrieved September 22, 2006.
- ^ Newsmax: Woman Becomes Sex Billionaire
- ^ Taipei Times: US Frets over Online Gambling
