About Wenda Thompson, Founder and Managing Partner
After completing her graduate degree, Wenda left the retail world behind and joined private equity. She has spent the last 15 years acquiring, operating, and growing portfolio companies. In her role as Managing Partner at Sapphire, Wenda is responsible for sourcing and executing transactions as well as filling direct roles at portfolio companies. Wenda has over 25 years of management experience in seven industries.
Prior to graduate school, Wenda started her career at GameStop as a cashier when it had just 12 stores. Over the next nine years, the company grew to over 400 hundred stores and Wenda advanced to managing four corporate departments. Helping to build and grow that company was her inspiration to go back to school and join private equity. It was and still is her goal to build and grow companies.
Born and bred in Minnesota, Wenda has subsequently lived in five other states and is in Colorado currently. Wenda received her M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and her B.S. in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Minnesota. Wenda and her husband, James, enjoy spending time cooking, golfing, walking, gardening, and traveling.