Nationality United States Name Mark Watson Spouse(s) AnaPaula Watson | Salary Years active 1999–present Role Entrepreneur | |
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Born May 2, 1964 (age 59) ( 1964-05-02 ) San Antonio, Texas U.S. Alma mater Southern Methodist University
University of Texas Law School Occupation President & CEO of
Argo Group Education University of Texas School of Law | ||
Alone on the water
Mark E. Watson III (born May 2, 1964) is an American entrepreneur and businessman. He is the President and CEO of Argo Group International Holdings (NASDAQ: AGII), an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market.
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Early life
Watson was born on May 2, 1964 in San Antonio, Texas. He is the son of Mark E. Watson, Jr., the President of Titan Indemnity Company. Watson earned his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University and his law degree from the University of Texas Law School. He grew up in the insurance world. His grandfather owned a small insurance company in San Antonio, which his father took over before he created Titan. When he was young, Watson spent summers working with his father, learning about reinsurance.
Work life
In 1989, Watson was a legislative aide to Texas State Senator Donald Henderson. He helped draft legislation creating the first college savings bond program in the state and the first mandatory alternative fuels bill, both of which were enacted into law. After school, he joined Kroll & Tract, a law firm focusing on international financial services, including insurance. He returned to San Antonio as General Counsel then Executive Vice President at Titan Holdings and worked with his father to take the company public. He worked there for six years, at the time of its initial listing on NASDAQ, then on the New York Stock Exchange and then through acquisitions by USF&G and St. Paul Insurance. Watson then became a principal of Aquila Capital Partners, a San Antonio–based investment firm, from 1998 to 1999. He also joined the Board of Governors of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America in June 2005, and the Houston International Insurance Group, Ltd in December 2010.
Argo Group
Watson became a Director of Argo Group US (aka Argonaut Group, a subsidiary of Argo Group International Holdings in 1999, and President and CEO in 2000. In August 2007, he became President, CEO and Head of Investor Relations of Argo Group International Holdings. He has overseen the company’s transformation to an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products.
Personal life
Watson lives in San Antonio with wife AnaPaula and their three children. He is an avid yachtsman, routinely racing the Newport Bermuda Race, a 635-mile ocean race that starts in Newport, Rhode Island and finishes in Bermuda. He won the Newport Bermuda Race in 2010 sailing "Genuine Risk." He sits on the board of the San Antonio Museum of Art.