The third richest man in Canada, Jim Pattison

Bloomberg
Jim Pattison James Alexander Michie

Jim Pattison visits a Pattison Agriculture dealership in Moosomin, Saskatchewan. Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

James Allen Pattison is a Canadian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he holds the position of chief executive officer, chairman and sole owner of the Jim Pattison Group, Canada’s second largest privately-held company, with more than 45,000 employees worldwide, and annual sales of $10.1 billion. The Group is active in 25 divisions, according to Forbes, including packaging, food, forestry products.

In 2015, he was considered to be Canada’s fourth richest person. Pattison is often referred to as “Canada’s Warren Buffett”. At the time, he was described as Canada’s third richest man by Bloomberg News.

At 90, Pattison oversees one of the newest weapons in his $ 10 billion empire, Pattison Agriculture. This is a chain of John Deere equipment dealers that serve 21 million acres of farmland. Pattison has expressed, “We are seeing more opportunities than ever”, he said. “There are still many opportunities with all the changes that are happening in the world”.

As he is the third richest man in Canada

Pattison created his iconic business group in an apparent challenge to the construction of the modern empire. He avoids emails, carries a cell phone but barely reviews it, and can count on one hand the number of times his group has used an investment bank in recent memory.

“Back in Omaha, they know me as Jim Pattison from the United States”, Buffett said this month when he surprised Pattison on stage in Toronto when the Canadian billionaire entered the country’s Walk of Fame. Pattison dismisses the comparison. “Warren Buffett is in a class for himself”, he insists.

An important fact to highlight is that Pattison likes to arrive unannounced in his possessions, including his supermarkets and dealerships.

Likewise, he listens attentively while his employees share their weak points. As well as the shortage of mechanics, the narrow margins in the sales of new equipment and the intolerable noise in the cabin of a new tractor that has farmers complaining. Sometimes he uses a notebook and a series of colored pencils, but mostly it is based on his still clear memory.

The third richest man in Canada still has a favorite job, being a used car salesman. In fact, he has said, “If I had to do it, I could always go back”.

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Source: Natalie Obiko Pearson | Bloomberg

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