The founder of Sirius Satellite Radio, Martine Rothblatt, was profiled recently by the Associated Press in a rare interview.
Martine Rothblatt explained to the AP that her 1980 MBA thesis at UCLA was essentially the blueprint for her
first company, PanAmSat, which created a satellite-based vehicle
tracking system.
Rothblatt then wanted to create the radio equivalent to
cable television, a “cable on wheels.” Most of the technology
was already in existence, Rothblatt said.
Still, engineers told her there were too many technological impediments; others said the business model was flawed.
Undaunted, Rothblatt
eventually convinced the FCC to devote a slice spectrum to satellite radio. But the FCC insisted a
competing company, which eventually became XM, be given some of
the bandwidth so that Rothblatt’s company would not enjoy a monopoly.
Martine Rothblatt moved on from satellite radio, founding United Therapeutics in a desperate battle to save her daughter’s life. Now, the AP reports, that while still running United Therapeutics Rothblatt devotes much of her spare time and energy “to perhaps the ultimate challenge: defeating death itself.”
[ via RWOnline]
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