Compared to its neighbour, the United States, Canada’s economy may not seem particularly impressive. However, the Canadian economy is home to some large companies and very successful businessmen and businesswomen. According to Forbes, there are 67 Canadian billionaires. What they all have in common is a huge fortune that needs to be managed properly. We profile Canada’s richest billionaires and their family office involvement.
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This article directly stems from the research process for our Canadian family office database. Our list of the largest Canadian family offices includes the most important family investment vehicles that invest in various areas, such as financial markets, real estate, venture capital, private equity and renewables.
#1 David Thomson Family Office, Net Worth $67.8BN
The wealth of David Thomson and his family comes from their media empire, the Thomson Reuters Corporation. Thomson is chairman of the company, which was founded by his grandfather, Roy Thomson, as a small radio station in the 1930s. Over time, the family business expanded into newspapers and became a global media and information services company. The Woodbridge Company is the family office of the Thomson family. The Toronto-based company manages the investments of the Thomson media magnates. Woodbridge’s main holding is a 62% stake in Thomson Reuters.
#2 Changpeng Zhao Family Office, Net Worth $33BN
Changpeng Zhao, who also goes by CZ is the founder of Binance the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Zhao was born in China but moved to Canada early. Last year the cryptocurrency exchange was responsible for nearly half of every spot trade processed by centralized crypto exchanges. Zhao holds almost 100% of his net worth in cryptocurrencies.
#3 David Cheriton Family Office, Net Worth $12.6BN
David Cheriton is a professor emeritus at Stanford University, where he is also known as the ‘Professor Billionaire’. During his university career, Cheriton developed and created several operating systems and mentored future founders and successful entrepreneurs such as Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Kenneth Duda and Kieran Harty. He was able to invest in Google at a very early stage and thanks to that became immensely wealthy. As of today he still invests in a variety of start-ups.
#4 Jim Pattison Family Office, Net Worth $9.4BN
Jim Pattison is a well-known Canadian billionaire and the Founder, Chairman and CEO of the Jim Pattison Group. In 2018, the company owned 25 dealerships. From a pure car dealership, Pattison developed the Jim Pattison Group into a diversified holding company. The group operates in 25 industries, including automotive, real estate, farm equipment, food and beverage, entertainment, export, finance, advertising, media and magazine distribution. Jim Pattison is still actively seeking new investment opportunities.
#5 Joseph Tsai Family Office, Net Worth $8.5BN
Joe Tsai amassed his fortune through his role in founding the Chinese technology company Alibaba Group. Tsai was born in Taipei, Taiwan, but was sent to the US at the age of 13. He became a Canadian citizen in the 1970s. He is a co-founder of Alibaba Group and has been the company’s chairman since 2023 and its second-largest individual shareholder. Joseph Tsai’s family office, Blue Pool Capital, is based in Hong Kong and oversees the family’s investments. Blue Pool Capital invests in capital markets, private equity, and sports.
More of Canada’s billionaires and their family offices
Chip Wilson Family Office, Net Worth $6.8BN
Dennis J. “Chip” Wilson is a Canadian entrepreneur best known for founding Lululemon Athletica Inc.. The yoga-inspired sportswear brand pioneered the athleisure trend. Before Lululemon, he founded Westbeach Snowboard Ltd. in 1979, which targeted the surf, skate, and snowboard markets. So far, he has sold off pieces of his stake in the company, first in 2014 when he sold a chunk for $845m and again in 2019 for $800m. The House of Wilson, the family office of Chip Wilson, is based in Vancouver and oversees the investments, initiatives and philanthropic endeavors of the Wilson family.
Sherry Brydson Family Office, Net Worth $20BN
Sherry Brydson is a Canadian billionaire and investor. She is known to be the single largest shareholder of Woodbridge, the investment arm of the Thomson family. She is the grandchild of Roy Thomson. Despite her huge role in the company, Brydson is one of the Thomson family members who has never appeared on an international wealth ranking. Westerkirk Capital, the family office of Canadian billionaire Sherry Brydson, is an investment firm headquartered in Toronto. It specializes in the hospitality, aviation, and real estate sectors.
Picture Source: Hermes Rivera via Unsplash
Last Updated on December 6, 2024
