Weaving Yet Another Web For Women

Kay Koplovitz tells of being at a dinner in Paris not long ago with a group of friends including journalist Charlie Rose and casino tycoon Stephen A. Wynn. Back in 1977, about the same time Wynn was founding Mirage Resorts Inc. using junk bonds, Koplovitz had put together corporate backers and started a cable-TV network that she eventually built into USA Networks Inc. There were six changes in ownership during her two-decade tenure as USA's salaried chief executive, and Koplovitz departed in 1998 after control of the $4 billion company was ceded to Barry Diller. Meanwhile, Wynn was firmly in control of his creation and counting his zillions. "The only difference between you and me," Wynn told her, "is that I knew Michael Milken."

It was a lesson Koplovitz understood all too well: Women entrepreneurs have to work hard to gain the access to capital that men take for granted. To help the cause, in June, 1998, she became chair of President Clinton's National Women's Business Council. And on Jan. 27, a first-ever venture-capital conference for women that she championed is being held in Silicon Valley.