In this article, we will take a look at the 15 Richest People in Canada.
The coronavirus crisis widened income inequality across the globe. According to World Bank, just like every pandemic in the past, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic would be severe for low-income countries. But contrary to the common belief, the list of modern billionaires includes several names who made game-changing products and services that solve key problems of humankind. For example, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)’s CEO Jeff Bezos, whose total worth stands at over $180 billion, changed the world with Amazon, sowing the seeds of the ecommerce boom that is creating thousands of jobs daily. On March 16, Amazon said it would create 100,000 full- and part-time jobs across its Operations network. Similarly, other billionaires like Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ: FB) founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL)’s Larry Ellison, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT)’s Jim Walton, Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL)’s Larry Page and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class A (NYSE: BRK.A) Warren Buffett became rich not by exploiting others but by offering excellent products and services for which people are happy to pay money.
Dating app Bumble Inc (NASDAQ: BMBL) founder CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd recently became the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire after BMBL stock soared following IPO. Similarly, the 40-year billionaire Tobi Lutke created wealth when he launched tools to help online sellers create e-commerce stores. His company Shopify Inc (NYSE: SHOP) is used by thousands of sellers to sell their items online.
Billionaires in the U.S. get a lot of attention worldwide, but in this article we are going to take a look at the billionaires across the border.
According to the World Economic League Table 2021, Canada ranked as the 9th richest economy in the world. In 2020, it recorded its GDP per capita of $1.5 billion. Despite the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian economy increased by 1.9% in Q3 2020, according to Trading Economies. The growth in the economies of the country’s major trading partners, favorable mortgage rates and government policies contributed to the growth in the country’s GDP. The Conference Board of Canada predicts that the country’s GDP will grow by 5.3% in 2021 and 3.5% in 2022.
The unemployment rate in Canada rose to 0.6% points in 2021, according to data from Trading Economies. Despite the increase in the unemployment rate, and the slow growth of the Canadian economy, Canadian billionaires have gained more wealth during the pandemic. Data from Forbes show that the Thomson Family witnessed the most growth, with an $8.8 billion increase. CEO of Shopify, Tobi Lutke, also saw a $6.6 billion increase. In the CCPA(Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative) report, Alex Hemingway, an economist and public finance analyst, highlighted the increase in the net worth of billionaires in Canada despite the increase in the unemployment rate. He said:
“At the same time as billionaires like Loblaws owner Galen Weston have seen their wealth balloon, front-line workers stocking shelves and scanning groceries at his stores have continued to risk their health and that of their loved ones by coming into work,”
Just like other parts of the world, the richest people in Canada actually saw their income boost during the coronavirus crisis. However, despite rising inequality, these billionaires have created jobs and contributed to the revenue of the country, directly or indirectly. Through their business activities, they contribute significantly to the growth of the Canadian economy. In our list of 15 Richest People in Canada, some of these billionaires are media personalities, CEOs, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, ecommerce merchants etc. Some of them are self-made billionaires, while others inherited their brands from family members.
In this article, we will assess the 15 richest people in Canada by their net worth. We used recent data from Forbes to calculate the most accurate estimate.
Copyright: epicstockmedia / 123RF Stock Photo
15. Daryl Katz
Net Worth: $3.6 billion
Daryl Katz is popularly known as the owner of the Edmonton Oilers, a professional hockey team. In 1991, Katz went into partnership with his father and paid $300,000 for the Canadian rights to Medicine Shoppe. Medicine Shoppe was a drug store franchise based in the US and had over 1,000 outlets there. He founded the holding company of the pharmaceutical Group called Katz Group of Companies.
In a few years, The Katz Group consisted of 80 Rexall stores, 30 Medicine Shoppe outlets, and other retailers. He expanded into the US market by purchasing the Snyders Drugstore chain. In 2008, he became the Edmonton Oilers owner, the NHL team native to his city. Daryl Katz is also the owner of Silver Pictures Entertainment, an entertainment company that produces and finances television and films.
14. Alain Bouchard
Net Worth: $4.1 billion
Alain Bouchard is one of the 15 richest people in Canada. He is the owner of Couche-Tard, the convenience store network. In 1980, he launched his first store. Under his management, the company grew from having one convenience store to one of the leading store chains in the country. It became the leading convenience store network in Canada. He expanded his influence to different countries.
In the United States, the convenience conglomerate has the most stores operated by one company. Couche-Tard has made many acquisitions over the years, and Alain Bouchard retired as the CEO in 2014. Today, the Couche-Tard conglomerate has over 15,000 stores and 125,000 employees worldwide. The market capitalization of Couche-Tard is currently $34.3 billion.
13. Peter Gilgan
Net Worth: $4.3 billion
Peter Gilgan is the founder and CEO of Mattamy Homes, one of Canada’s largest privately-owned homebuilders. The new developments in housing and construction inspired Gilgan to create something equally innovative. He is known for his WideLot design, which constructs houses that cater to individual needs instead of lot size.
He is known for building high-quality homes. He has built over 21,000 houses in the Toronto area. Mattamy houses has also developed homes in the United States, especially in Florida. Since its inception, the company is responsible for constructing over 70,000 homes in Ontario, Alberta and the United States.
12. Anthony Von Mandl
Net Worth: $4.4 billion
Anthony Von Mandl is the founder of the Mark Anthony Brand. He is responsible for the creation of the famous White Claw Hard Seltzer and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Von Mandl was an importer of wine. After buying the Mission Hill Family Estate winery with his business partners, he focused on creating wine, beverages and spirits.
Mandl is also behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade, White Claw Hard Seltzer and the American Vintage Beverage. Today, Mark Anthony Group owns five wineries.
Mark Anthony Wine and Spirits is one of the leading alcoholic beverage brands. Today, the company is the largest producer of ready-to-drink(RTD) products in Canada and the fourth largest in the world
11. Mark Sheinberg
Net Worth: $4.9 billion
Mark Sheinberg is known as the co-founder of the online gambling company, Pokerstars. Born in 1974, the Israeli-Canadian billionaire co-founded the Pokerstars company with his father, Isai Sheinberg. Issa Sheinberg worked in IBM Canada as a senior programmer.
In 2001, Pokerstars launched with beta money that was only available on the site. After some time, it started offering real money bets. Pokerstars was under the parent company’s umbrella, Rational Enterprises, located in the Isle of Man. When the online gambling site launched, it quickly became one of the largest in the world.
It obtained licenses in several countries, and it hosted the largest tournament online. Due to some legal issues, PokerStars was sold to Amaya Software for $5 billion.
10. Emanuele (Lino) Saputo & Family
Net Worth: $5.1 billion
Emanuele Lino Saputo is the chairman of Saputo Inc, one of the most extensive dairy and cheese companies in North America. It was established in 1954 by Emanuele Saputo’s father.
When Emanuele Saputo took over from his father as President of the company, he made many changes. He made a series of acquisitions that placed them on the map as the largest dairy company in Canada. He purchased two manufacturing plants in the US and several manufacturing sites in Canada.
Today, the company operates in Canada, Australia, Argentina and the United States. It has about 65 facilities globally, with a market capitalization of $10.8 billion.
9. Jim Pattison
Net Worth: $5.7 billion
Jim Pattison is one of the 15 richest people in Canada. He is the CEO and founder of the second-largest privately-held company, the Jim Pattison Group. With interests in entertainment, packaging, forestry, and other industries, the Group has 25 sectors. The company has operations around the globe, including the United States.
Pattison expanded his business ventures by purchasing other companies. He has made over 200 acquisitions. The Group also owns Canfor, a forest products company. One of the most notable acquisitions of the company is in the entertainment division. The Group owns Ripley’s Believe it or Not! franchise. Under the management of Jim Pattison, it has expanded into Guinness World Records and Great Wolf Lodge.
8. Chip Wilson
Net Worth: $5.7 billion
Chip Wilson is the founder of several retail apparel companies. He is known for being the founder of Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ: LULU), a sports apparel company. In 1979, he established the Westbeach retail company that sold clothes for surfers and snowboarders.
Lululemon created athletic apparel inspired by yoga. It was one of the first companies to produce yoga wear. It started in Canada, but later expanded its operations across the world, including the United States. Wilson remained as the CEO of the company until 2005.
7. James K. Irving
Net Worth: $6.3 billion
James Kenneth Irving owns J. D. Irving ltd, a conglomerate that deals with products in different sectors like forestry, tissue, lumber, transportation and frozen food. The company, which he inherited from his grandfather, was established in 1882.
James K. Irving inherited a publishing company called Brunswick News from his father. James Kenneth Irving diversified the company and expanded its operations. In 1957, he commissioned reforestation and tree improvement activities that developed the forestry industry.
This forestry operation is responsible for planting almost a billion trees in Canada. It is a major conglomerate with several divisions and operations in Canada and the United States.
6. Huang Chulong
Net Worth: $6.4 billion
Huang Chulong is a Canadian billionaire who owns Galaxy Holdings Group, a real estate developer based in China. He is the chairman of the company. The Group has investments in hotel management, shopping malls, parking spaces and office leasing. His company is responsible for significant real estate developments in China. For 32 years, the company has been thriving and expanding its operations.
5. Galen Weston
Net Worth: $8.5 billion
Galen Weston is the former chairman of George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies. He also owns Brown Thomas group, Whittington Investment and Selfridges. Galen’s father expanded the family bakery into supermarkets, fisheries and frozen foods. Galen Weston bought Brown Thomas, a clothing store, and expanded it to 20 other stores.
Under Weston’s management, Lobalaw Companies became the most extensive chain of supermarkets in Canada. He also bought another Canadian retailer company called Holt Renfrew. In 1989, he built a resort in Florida.
Today, George Weston Limited is made up of 3 companies. Lobalaw Companies is one of the largest retailers of food in Canada. Their company Choice Properties is the leading Real Estate investment trust in Canada. Lastly, Weston Foods is the top producer of baked goods in North America and has operations in the United States. George Weston has a market capitalization of $11.5 billion.
4. David Cheriton
Net Worth: $8.9 billion
David Cheriton is a Canadian professor at Stanford University. He teaches computer science and IT. He co-founded Granite Systems with Andreas von Bechtolsheim and sold it to Cisco in 1996. He also co-founded Kealia with Andreas and sold it to Sun Microsystems for millions of dollars.
His primary source of success and wealth was an investment he made into Google when it was barely a startup. The market capitalization of Google today is $1.3 trillion. He has also invested in several startups like VMware, Tintri, Zunavision and other companies. He founded Arista Networks, a company that produces a data switch that significantly reduces the delay between servers.
He is also the founder of Brainoft Inc, a company that creates a device that can use phones and voice commands to control appliances in the home.
3. Tobi Lütke
Net Worth: $10.1 billion
Tobias Lütke is the founder and CEO of Shopify, an e-commerce firm in Canada that creates software that helps companies set up and manage online stores. An expert programmer, he was dissatisfied with the software available for online stores at the time. Lutke launched an online snowboard shop with Scott Lake and Daniel Weinand. They decided to work on creating tools for online merchants.
In 2006, Lütke and his partners launched Spotify as a collection of tools that online merchants could use to design and customize their sites. The Shopify software was user-friendly, simple and easy to operate. Today, the Shopify platform has over 325,000 shops using its software. It also hosts companies like Google, Tesla and Kylie Cosmetics.
2. Joseph Tsai
Net Worth: $12.6 billion
Joseph Tsai, a naturalized Canadian citizen, is the co-founder and Vice-Chairman of the Alibaba Group. When Tsai met Jack Ma, he was working as an executive at Investor AB. He left his high-paying job to join Ma’s Alibaba. Joseph Tsai is one of the founding members of Alibaba group, and was instrumental in providing software and managing the company.
Today, Alibaba is the leading e-commerce company in China. The current market capitalization of Alibaba is $688 billion
It has over 1 billion users, and over 100,000 employees globally. Joseph Tsai is currently the vice-chairman of the company.
1. David Thomson & Family
Net Worth: $40.7 billion
David Thomson is the co-chairman of Woodbridge, the company based in Canada that controls Thomson Reuters. Roy Thomson, David’s grandfather, established a media and publishing company through acquisitions in the 1950s. David Thomson became the CEO of the company after the death of his father, Kenneth.
Under David’s management, the company witnessed a lot of expansion. He acquired Reuters. The Thomson family also acquired Bells Canada and the Globe and Mail newspaper based in Canada.
David Thomson also owns a private art collection and Osmington, a real estate company. He is also one of the owners of the Winnipeg Jets.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Richest People In Canada is originally published at Insider Monkey.
