Media Profiles

Kenneth Thomson

By Leslie Regan Shade
November 9, 2006

Kenneth Thomson, the media magnate who was head of the Canadian-based Thomson Corporation, died in 2006 at the age of 82. For many the quiet billionaire was the epitome of the gentleman entrepreneur. Over his lifetime he quietly amassed a personal fortune worth $30 billion in his many media and publishing holdings, and his wealth was estimated to put him as the 9th richest man in the world. He was most known for his acquisition of Canada’s Globe and Mail and The Times of London and for his innovative forays into electronic publishing. The Thomson Corporation included holdings in diverse fields, including law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate e-learning and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. Thomson was a minority shareholder in BCE when the Globe and Mail merged with BCE's cable and television assets (CTV and The Sports Network) to form Bell Globemedia. Thomson was also known as a prolific collector of Canadian art, which he donated to the Art Gallery of Canada (AGO) .

References:

Globe and Mail articles on KennethThomson

Forbes Magazine. Richest Men, profile of Thomson

Thomson Corporation