Jim Pattison
James Allen "Jim" Pattison, OC, OBC (born October 1, 1928) is a Vancouver-based Canadian entrepreneur who is the president, managing director, chief executive officer, chairman and sole owner of the Jim Pattison Group, the third largest privately held company in Canada. With an estimated net worth of around $US 5.8 billion (as of March 2011), Pattison was ranked by Forbes as the 3rd wealthiest person in Canada and 173rd in the world.[1]
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[edit] Life and career
Pattison's parents resided in the rural town of Luseland[2], Saskatchewan when he was born at the hospital in nearby Saskatoon.
His company, the third largest privately held company in Canada[3] owns numerous car dealerships, Overwaitea Foods and Save-On-Foods, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, and radio & TV stations in British Columbia and Alberta. He also owned the Vancouver Blazers of the World Hockey Association.
Pattison led the organization of Expo 86 in Vancouver as the CEO and president of the Expo 86 Corporation. When he was appointed to The Order of BC the award noted, "Although others may have had the initial vision for Expo ’86, it was Jimmy Pattison who was the expediter – the one more than anyone else who made it happen. He demanded much of his team but no more than he himself was prepared to give. This he did, almost full-time over a five-year period, without compensation..."[4]
He was involved with the committee for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
On February 15, 2008, Jim Pattison Group announced the purchase of the GWR organization, the company known for its Guinness World Records franchise. Aptly enough, its annual book, published in more than 100 countries in 37 languages, is the world's best-selling copyrighted book.
Among other honours, Pattison is a recipient of both the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia. He was also listed as No. 178 on the 2008 Forbes list of the world's richest people.[5] He is also listed as the 4th richest Canadian.[6]
Pattison, who owns approximately 30% of the shares of Canfor, was recently in a dispute over governance with money manager Stephen A. Jarislowsky, whose firm owned 18%. Pattison won and ousted CEO Jim Shepherd over Canfor's poor performance and declining share price, replacing him for the interim with Jim Shepard.[7]
On April 16, 2009 Jim Pattison announced that Save-On Foods has donated $100,000 to CBC Television in order to rent high definition trucks for away games during the Vancouver Canucks' 2009 1st round NHL playoff series versus the St. Louis Blues. Prior to this donation, CBC stated that it would not broadcast HD away games in St. Louis due to the cost of renting high definition equipment during the current tough economic times and major cuts to funding for the CBC by the federal government.[8]
He married his childhood sweetheart, Mary, they have 3 children.[9][10]
[edit] Further reading
- Jimmy: An Autobiography by Jim Pattison and Paul Grescoe (1987)
- Pattison: Portrait of a capitalist superstar by Russell Kelly (Nov 1986)
[edit] See also
[edit] Multimedia
- Youtube clip - Interview of Jim Pattison by Horatio Alger Association
- CBC Archives - Jim Pattison and Expo 86 (from 1985).
- Video Clip- Interview of Jim Pattison by BCBusiness Magazine
[edit] References
- ^ Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/wealth/billionaires/list?country=223&industry=-1&state=.
- ^ "Jimmy has the last laugh". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/jimmy-has-the-last-laugh/article260838/print/. "Pattison's father was already in the business back in Luseland, Sask., on the day in 1928 that his only son was born..."
- ^ University of Alberta School of Business
- ^ "Order of British Columbia, 1990 Recipient: Jim Pattison – Vancouver". http://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/members/obc-1990/jim-pattison/.
- ^ Forbes
- ^ The richest Canadians
- ^ http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=fb5f68f1-5946-4b46-8a1b-6428db31d1d7
- ^ "Hockey Night in Canada gives Vancouver the Bird", Vancouver Province, April 16, 2009.
- ^ "Still going strong". National Post. http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=9628733a-3440-4fd5-b1b2-751da5735143&sponsor=.
- ^ "At 74, Jimmy Pattison focuses on long term". Globe and Mail. June 2, 2003. https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20030602/RJIMY. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
[edit] External links
- Biography on the Order of British Columbia website.
- Entry on Order of Canada website.
- The Jim Pattison Group main website
- Jimmy got Mad
- NNDB entry
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