Forrest Lee Preston (born March 22, 1933) is an American billionaire businessman from Massachusetts. He is the founder, owner, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Life Care Centers of America, a long-term elderly care company that he founded in 1970.
Early life
Forrest Lee Preston was born and raised in Massachusetts, the son of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor father,[2][3] Benjamin M. Preston and his wife Ethel Preston.[4] His father died in 1994, and Preston endowed the Benjamin M. Preston scholarship at Atlantic Union College, of which his father was an alumnus.[5]
Together with his brother Winton, he co-founded a company called Hospital Publications to create patient booklets and public relations materials for hospitals, and the company operated until 1972.[4] The idea had come from his work in hospitals, where he concluded that there was a need for better public relations in the healthcare system. Through this business, he observed the conditions of elderly patients in hospitals, and concluded that there was a need for better long term care.[7]
In 1970, Preston founded Life Care Centers of America in Cleveland, and is the sole owner, chairman and CEO.[8] It later grew to be the largest privately owned long term care facility chain and the third largest privately owned long-term care facility in the United States.[2]
As of September 2015, he had an estimated net worth of US$2.1 billion.[6]
Personal life
Preston was married to Kathleen Marchant (1936-2017) until her death.[9] He lives in Cleveland.[6] His residence is located near the residence of fellow businessman Allan Jones.[2][1] He is of the Baptist faith, and attends First Baptist Church in Cleveland.[9]
He married Kim Phuong Nguyen, his former caretaker, in 2018. In October 2024 his son Aubrey filed a legal complaint against Kim and her family over his father's finances.[10]
References
^ ab220 Anatole Lane NW, Cleveland, Tennessee 37312, Cleveland, Tennessee: Bradley County Register of Deeds, 1995, p. 3