Reynold Vincent "Rene" Anselmo[1] (January 14, 1926 – September 20, 1995) was an American businessman who founded the satellite company PanAmSat and co-founded the television network Univision.
Anselmo was married to Mary Anselmo, with whom he had three children, daughter Pier and sons, Rayce and Reverge.
Anselmo was described as having "unflinching self-confidence and willingness to risk all in his fight to upend the status quo" in a tribute by SpaceNews. He challenged the monopoly in satellite provision held by Intelsat in the 1980s, taking out full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal asking political leaders, including former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, to open up the satellite telecommunications market. He donated over 100,000 daffodils and tulips to the city of Greenwich, Connecticut.[1]
Anselmo died September 20, 1995, from heart disease, aged 69.[1] PanAmSat was left to his wife and his son-in-law, Fred Landman.[2][6]
As of 2020, Reverge Anselmo, who lives in Connecticut, contributed more than $100,000 to Patrick Jones' Shasta County District 4 Supervisor successful election campaign, "believed to be, at that time, the largest individual dollar contribution ever, to a local political campaign".[7][12] In 2020, the Shasta County District Supervisor salary was $54,948 or $53,508.[13] In addition, he has contributed more than a half-million dollars to Shasta County political committees, including $400,000 in November to Shasta General Purpose Committee/Recall Shasta, a group for the recall of three supervisors, after giving them $50,000 in August.[7][14][15][16][17][18]
