Meet the 5 wealthiest peoples in Canada, their net worths, and their source of wealth.
1) Thomson family. $26.1 billion. +30% from previous year. Thomson Reuters, Globe and Mail.
2) Galen Weston. $10.4 billion. +24% from previous year. Loblaw Cos. Ltd., Holt Renfrew
3) Irving family. $7.9 billion. -3% from previous year. Irving Oil ltd., J. D. Irving Ltd.
4) Rogers family. $7.6 billion. +18% from previous year. Rogers Communications Inc.
5) James Pattison. $7.4 billion. +20% from previous year. Jim Pattison group.
Except for the Irving family, it’s surprising that they’re still able to grow their net worths so much, percentage wise, despite how wealthy they already are. Thanks to these rich people small investors like us can just piggy back off their hard work and success. For example anyone who had invested in Galen Weston’s company, Loblaw Companies Ltd (L), at the beginning of this year would be up 12% on their investment so far.
src: canadianbusiness.com
If we look at the industry these top elites work in it’s mostly information services, food, energy, telecommunication, and advertising. I think we should include these types of businesses in our own portfolios. For example late last year I blogged about buying Comcast, which is a big cable company but also has media properties that provide information and news. I thought Comcast has more potential than Reuters. So far this year Thomson Reuters stocks is down 2%, but Comcast shares are up 4% 😀 #lucky
There are many ways to invest in the food business as well like buying fertile land or stocks of seed producers. These are things everyone should do because if the price of food increase in the future at least our wealth will rise with it. Investing in oil and gas is a good bet long term and thankfully most Canadians are already well exposed to that 🙂 The three big telecom businesses in Canada are highly profitable due to their oligopoly. If we hold Roger’s shares (RCI.B.) then we’ll earn 4.3% dividend each year regardless of the stock’s performance. That’s better than a high interest savings account or government bonds right now. And if the Rogers family continues to grow their company and become even wealthier, then so will we 😀 Personally I have stakes in all three major telecom incumbents because an oligopoly has unfair competitive advantages that companies in other industries don’t.
Most of us will never become billionaire entrepreneurial giants. But at least we can stand on their shoulders and go along for the ride. This is the easiest way to make money. If we side ourselves with the same interests as the ultra rich, then it only makes sense that we will eventually become rich too. The universe has a mysterious way of giving us what we associate ourselves with 😀 Investing with the rich won’t make us billionaires, but millionaire status is more than probable, which is good enough for me 😉
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Random Useless Fact:
The diversity of Fox News anchors.
Sadly, I don’t have any of those billionaires stocks. May be I should I should sit on their shoulders and go for the ride with them (as you said).
I’m thinking about upping my Roger’s stocks to 100 shares, which will finally be enough for a DRIP 🙂 It’s tough to find value in today’s heated markets. When things are looking uncertain I like to increase my stake in existing holdings because I understand them and I believe they’re safe and stable.
I don’t think this investment policy is a very good one over the long term, especially since you are using wealth which has been accumulated in the past to somehow indicate the best investments/sectors of the future. Check out the Eike Batista story.
Aye, good point. Past return does not necessarily indicate future performance. It’s a hard time for many wealthy Canadians right now because commodity prices have been so low recently and many businesses and investors depend on the price of metals like copper to go up.
I remember Jim Pattisons home in the 90,s in the British Properties was often a must to drive by.LOL. He probably never even lived there. Damn billionaires and their fancy homes. I would rather have Warren Buffet as a neighbor.
If Warren lived in B.C. there would probably be a lot of investment flowing into this province lol. Many people say billionaires are bad because they hog all the money. But I think they work hard, create jobs, and pay more taxes than any other individuals I know.