William James Timothy

**William James Timothy** (born April 7, 1948) is an American businessman, film producer, and politician who is the CEO and founder of multimedia corporation The Timothy Group. A member of the Republican Party, Timothy also served as Governor of Wyoming from 2005 to 2013.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Timothy graduated from Lexington Catholic High School in 1966. He later attended Eastern Kentucky University, and graduated with a degree in finance in 1970. After finishing his undergraduate degree, Timothy moved to Los Angeles, California to begin his career. Forming The Timothy Group in 1971, Timothy purchased small Los Angeles newspaper *The LA Telegraph* shortly afterwards with a loan, and turned the paper into a multimillion dollar enterprise. The company later sold *The LA Telegraph* in 1984 for $75 million. In 1986, Timothy received an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business. Timothy founded Timothy Productions in 1990, a film production company and offshoot of The Timothy Group. With Timothy Productions, he produced critically and commercially successful films such as *Leisure* (1993), *Flower Doll* (1994), and *The Drums* (2000).

For many years, Timothy was a major donor for Republican Party politicians, but declined offers to run for office himself. In 2003, he announced that he would run for Governor of Wyoming in the 2004 election. He later won the Republican primary in a contentious race, and easily won the general election. Timothy was sworn in as Governor on January 7, 2005. After experiencing high approval ratings of over 80% during his first term, he was reelected to a second term in 2008. Timothy left office in 2013, after completing the second of his two terms, as the Constitution of Wyoming prohibits a Governor from serving any more. In 2016, his wife Melinda Timothy was elected to the United States Senate for Wyoming.

Timothy has frequently been rumored as a possible Republican candidate for President of the United States, although he denies having any interest in running for the position in the foreseeable future.

## Early life and family

Timothy was born on April 7, 1948 in Lexington, Kentucky to parents James (1916–1999) and Lucy Timothy (née *George*; 1919–2007). His family comes from an English background and he was raised within the Southern Baptist Church; however, Timothy rejects the label "English-American" in favor of simply "American" and abandoned the Baptist faith as a teenager. Timothy's father was a local Kentucky newscaster who worked in radio until moving to television in the 1950s, while his mother was a secretary who became a homemaker after becoming a mother. Timothy grew up in an upper-middle class home as the elder of two children; his younger sister is Barbara, born  (1951-06-09) June 9, 1951 (age 72).

## Education and The Timothy Group

Timothy attended both public and private education growing up. He began his education in 1954, attending a public elementary school. In 1962, he transferred to Lexington Catholic High School, an independent Catholic high school. In high school, Timothy played on his varsity baseball team and graduated in 1966. After graduating, he began attending Eastern Kentucky University as a finance major. While in college, Timothy played baseball for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, but left the team after finishing his freshman year. He joined the Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ) fraternity, and graduated with his bachelor's degree in 1970.

After graduating from college, Timothy left Kentucky and moved to Los Angeles, California. He founded the multimedia corporation The Timothy Group in 1971, and purchased small newspaper *The LA Telegraph* for $300,000, which he paid for using a loan received from his paternal grandfather. Under his management, *The LA Telegraph* established itself as a major newspaper in the Los Angeles area, being valued at $1 million by 1978. The company later sold *The LA Telegraph* in 1984 for $75 million. In 1986, Timothy received an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business. Timothy founded Timothy Productions in 1990, a film production company and offshoot of The Timothy Group. With *Timothy Productions*, he produced critically and commercially successful films such as *Leisure* (1993), *Flower Doll* (1994), and *The Drums* (2000).

After his election as Governor of Wyoming in 2005, Timothy temporarily stepped down as CEO of The Timothy Group in order to prioritize his role as Governor. He returned to his previous position at the company after leaving office in 2013. In 2018, The Timothy Group was valued at $1.9 billion.

## Political positions

*Main article: Political positions of William James Timothy.*

## Personal life

Timothy began dating model Ann MacCormack in 1973, after having met at a nightclub in Los Angeles, California. They became engaged in 1975, and married later that year. With MacCormack, Timothy had three children: William "Billy", born  (1976-09-16) September 16, 1976 (age 47), Rachelle, born  (1979-03-05) March 5, 1979 (age 44), and Kendrick, born  (1981-05-24) May 24, 1981 (age 42).

In 1990, Timothy began an affair with his secretary Melinda Eriksen. He subsequently filed for divorce from MacCormack in 1991, and it was finalized the following year. Months after his divorce was finalized, Timothy married Eriksen in a small ceremony. They have one child together: Alannah, born  (1995-07-04) July 4, 1995 (age 28). While Eriksen is a Lutheran, Timothy calls himself a nondenominational Christian.

The family owns several residences; their primary residences are their eight-bedroom Jackson, Wyoming home and their twelve-bedroom Malibu, California home, valued at $12.8 million and $20.7 million, respectively. The family also has residences in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the Upper East Side of New York City, the Kāhala neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii, the Belgravia district of London, England, Geneva, Switzerland, and Miami Beach, Florida, amongst others. During his tenure as Governor of Wyoming from 2005 to 2013, the family resided in the Wyoming Governor's Mansion in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Combined, their total real estate is worth over $250 million.