Martin Wygod | |
---|---|
Born |
New York City, New York, U.S. |
February 1, 1940
Residence | Rancho Santa Fe, California |
Education | New York University |
Occupation | Stockbroker, entrepreneur, merchant banker, racehorse owner/breeder |
Known for | Founder: Medco Containment Services, Inc. |
Board member of | WebMD Health Corporation, HLTH Corporation, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club |
Spouse(s) | Pamela S. |
Children | Emily, Max |
Martin J. Wygod (born February 1, 1940) is an American businessman and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder.
A business administration graduate from New York University, he joined a Wall Street stock brokerage firm before becoming a managing partner in a similar firm.
In 1964, Wygod became involved with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in California, run by founders Roy Nutt and Fletcher Jones. In the 1970s he shifted his focus to the burgeoning health care industry, buying Glasrock Medical Services in 1977 and after five years of solid growth, sold it for a large profit. In 1983 he established Medco Containment Services, Inc. and built it into the largest mail order pharmacy in the United States. In 1993 Wygod sold Medco to Merck & Co. for more than US$6 billion.
Martin Wygod is currently Chairman of the New York City based WebMD Health Corporation which provides health information services to consumers, healthcare professionals, physicians, employers, and health plans through its public and private online portals. As well, Wygod is Chairman of HLTH Corporation, an Elmwood Park, New Jersey technology company providing healthcare information services.
Since boyhood, Martin Wygod has had a love of horses and the sport of Thoroughbred Horse racing. Growing up in New York he spent time as a hot walker at Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. As a result of his friendship with Fletcher Jones of CSC, Wygod first became a Thoroughbred owner when Jones gave him two racehorses, Verification and Heliotropic, as a 25th birthday gift. Fletcher Jones owned Westerly Stud Farms near Santa Ynez, California and was involved in horse racing for several years prior to his untimely death in 1972.