Alan Ashton
Alan Ashton is the co-founder of WordPerfect Corporation. Born in 1942 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ashton has also been a professor at Brigham Young University. He is a grandson of late Mormon prophet David O. McKay.
Ashton studied computer science and music at the University of Utah during the 1970′s. During that time he began experimenting with word processing and in 1979 founded WordPerfect (originally named Satellite Software International) with student Bruce Bastian. Ashton left his position at BYU in 1987 to serve full time as the company’s president and CEO.
“Ashton ran WordPerfect as a triumvirate, along with Bastian and W.E. (“Pete”) Peterson. Ashton and Bastian each controlled 49.5% of the company, and Peterson controlled 1%. While Ashton was the titular head of WordPerfect, Peterson ran the day-to-day operations, and was frequently misinterpreted as the head of the company by the press. Ashton’s management style was hands-off. At one point, the entire development organization of WordPerfect reported directly to him. Peterson asserts that he was agreeable and preferred to avoid contention.” [1]
In 1990 Forbes Magazine named Ashton to its list of the 400 richest people in America. Ashton served two years on the Novell board of directors. In April 1999, Ashton founded ASH Capital, a venture investment company controlled by Ashton and managed by James Savas and David Harkness.
After WordPerfect was acquired by Novell, Ashton and his wife Karen founded Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. Thanksgiving Point is a mega-complex on approximately 55 acres meant to bless the community. It teaches farming, gardening and cooking. It also has a championship caliber golf course, a museum of ancient life and a movie theater, a farm zoo, world-class gardens, restaurant and reception center, and other attractions.
As a young man, Ashton served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Germany. He served as a mission president for LDS Church in western Ontario from July 2004 through June 2007. He donated $1 million dollars to the Proposition 8 campaign in California.
Ashton explains the basis of his faith on the website “Mormon Scholars Testify.”
“I have come to know through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ and that He is the Savior and Redeemer of mankind. I know that I along with all mankind will be lifted up to stand before Him to be judged of our works because He was lifted up by men upon the cross. I know that salvation comes in and through Jesus Christ and that all will be resurrected because of Him. I know that the true gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth in these latter days through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that we are all children of God and that He invites us to come unto Him with full purpose of heart.”
Alan and Karen Ashton are the parents of eleven children. His other interests include farming, music (especially the trumpet), and competitive tennis.
