Mary Kay Ash was an American businesswoman and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. At her death, she had a fortune of $98 million, and her company had more than $1.2 billion in sales with a sales force of more than 800,000 in at least three dozen countries. 

Early life

Mary Kay Ash, born Mary Kathlyn Wagner in Hot Wells, Harris County, Texas, was the daughter of Edward Alexander and Lula Vember Hastings Wagner. Her mother was trained as a nurse and later became a manager of a restaurant in Houston. Ash attended Dow Elementary School and Reagan High School in Houston and graduated in 1934.

Ash married Ben Rogers at age 17. They had three children, Ben Jr., Marylin Reed, and Richard Rogers. While her husband served in World War II, she sold books door-to-door. After her husband's return in 1945, they divorced. She later married the brother of Mary C. Crowley, founder of Home Interiors and Gifts.

Career

Ash went to work for Stanley Home Products in 1939. Frustrated when passed over for a promotion in favor of a man that she had trained, Ash retired in 1963 and intended to write a book to assist women in business. The book turned into a business plan for her ideal company, and in the summer of 1963, Mary Kay Ash and her new husband, George Hallenbeck, planned to start Mary Kay Cosmetics. However, George died of a heart attack that same year. Ash was 45 years old.

One month after George's death, with a $5,000 investment from her oldest son, Ben Rogers, Jr., Ash started Mary Kay Cosmetics. Richard Rogers took George's place in the company. The company started its original storefront operation "Beauty By Mary Kay" in Dallas. They used a 500‐square‐foot storefront with nine saleswomen signed up. Ash copied the same “house party” model used by Stanley, Tupperware, and others. A Mary Kay representative would invite her friends over for free facials, then pitch the products. Profits rolled in, with double‐digit growth every year.

Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.

Ash and her partners, which included her son Richard, took the company public in 1968. Seventeen years later, in 1985, the Mary Kay Cosmetics board decided to make the company private again. Ash remained active in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. until suffering a stroke in 1996. Richard Rogers was named CEO of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc. in 2001. At the time of Ash's death, Mary Kay Cosmetics had over 800,000 representatives in 37 countries, with total annual sales of over $200 million.

Death

Mary Kay Ash died on November 22, 2001. She is interred in the Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas, Texas.