Owen Westattended Harvard on an ROTC scholarship and rowed heavyweight varsity crew. After graduation, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the Marine Corps and commanded an infantry platoon, an infantry company, and a reconnaissance platoon, the Marine Corps special-ops unit. He was the honor graduate of his reconnaissance school, combat diver school, and long-range navigation school classes. After his service, he attended Stanford Business School, where he was elected co-president of his class and served as the CEO for the largest business school nonprofit in the nation. He is now a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a commodities trader for Goldman Sachs & Co. In… September 2000 he completed his fifth Eco-Challenge, the world's most difficult adventure race, navigating threePlayboyPlaymates to the finish line. In May 2001 he reached 28,000 feet on Mount Everest's north face before turning back. West and his wife, Susanne, live in New York City.