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Expensive tastes: Business owners helping put wind in B.C.’s luxury boat sales

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Part of BIV’s What big money buys series: Wealthy Vancouverites are lavishing untold amounts of money on big-ticket indulgences, driving a bonanza for the region’s dealers in luxury furnishings, vehicles, yachts and other top-tier toys.

Given Vancouver’s location on the Pacific Ocean, it’s hardly surprising that one of the top-selling toys for Vancouver’s wealthiest residents is a yacht or high-end fishing boat.

While the number of Vancouverites who own superyachts, like billionaire Jim Pattison, appears to be relatively low, there is such a big demand for smaller pleasure craft in the 40-to-60-foot range in B.C. that Tim Charles, principal owner of Platinum Marine, recently launched a new line – Tactical Custom Boats – for that market.

Luxury models are driving yacht and fishing boat sales in B.C.

A new marina in Victoria highlights the growing demand for superyacht moorage in B.C. The 28-slip Victoria International Marina, which opened in May, can accommodate up to 12 superyachts in the 100-to-120-foot range, and one up to 175 feet in length. The first 40-foot yacht being built at Platinum’s shipyard on Mitchell Island will cost $1.5 million and comes with a mini submarine and drone.

“We have a 43-inch-screen television that pops down,” Charles said. “You can sit at the screen and you can explore hundreds of feet underwater. It has a grabber arm on it so you can see and touch and pick up things underwater.”

Tactical is also building a 77-foot US$6.5 million yacht.

“It is military and navy-grade aluminum hull construction,” Charles said of the Tactical series. “So it is a very heavy-duty boat, but it is completely done with yacht finishes.”

Platinum also owns Crescent Custom Yachts, which builds superyachts ranging in size from 100 to 150 feet and with prices that range from US$14 million to US$24 million. Crescent’s customers are almost exclusively international – mostly American – but Charles expects that nearly all buyers for the new Tactical yachts will be from B.C.

“It’s something the market’s been asking for,” Charles said. “I would say 95% of all of our customers are business owners. The amount of business that’s done on people’s yachts and boats is just tremendous. It’s a business sales tool for many people.”

Another growing demand in the Vancouver market is for luxury fishing boats, said Bob Pappajohn, president of M&P Mercury Sales, which sells both yachts and fishing boats.

“The luxury fishing boat segment has been just incredibly strong,” Pappajohn said. “We are seeing a trend toward higher luxury. One of the biggest trends right now that’s really fuelling this is we’re getting people buying who haven’t owned a bunch of boats before and are really new to it.”

One of the more popular models is a 42-foot Boston Whaler fishing boat that sells for $1.8 million.

Pappajohn said yacht and fishing boat sales have been very healthy in the last few years in Vancouver.

“We’ll sell a half a dozen boats a year,” he said. “Back in 2009-10, it was amazing if you sold one.”

Not only is the number of high-net-worth individuals in Vancouver rising, it’s also becoming easier to pilot a yacht or fishing boat, Pappajohn said, thanks to technology like joystick steering that makes docking a modern boat a cinch.

“The biggest reason for the increase in sales is that it’s more accessible, it’s easier to do, and, yes, there’s more wealth,” Pappajohn said. “Even people spending a lot of money for a day boat to go fishing, they want the high-end one.”

As for the bigger, more luxurious yachts – superyachts or megayachts – Vancouver sees its fair share of them, although many are owned by wealthy Americans. The most spectacular yacht to grace local waters might be the Attessa IV, which can sometimes be seen in Coal Harbour.

It’s hard to miss, and not just because of its size  (332 feet). The yacht comes with a small helicopter. It also features a swimming pool, a 12-seat theatre and four guest rooms.

The Attessa IV is owned by Dennis Washingtion, the American billionaire whose Washington Companies is the largest shareholder of Seaspan Corp.  (NYSE:SSW), the world’s biggest independent charter owner and manager of container ships. According to Forbes, the Attessa IV is valued at $300 million.

Pattison’s 150-foot Nova Spirit yacht is valued at $25 million, according to SuperYacht Fan. According to MSN, it costs $72,000 just to fuel the yacht, which has a nine-person crew.

Estimating how many superyachts are owned by British Columbians is difficult, partly because some of them might be registered outside of Canada. But Craig E. Norris, CEO of Victoria International Marina, estimates that anywhere from 50 to 100 yachts in the 65-foot-and-up range are owned by British Columbians.

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For sale: The unremarkable yellow house behind billionaire Jimmy Pattison’s empire  

The home that helped the self-made tycoon get his start in business can be yours for $1. But to Pattison, it's worth so much more

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There are many things to know about billionaire Jimmy Pattison . For example, he’s now 94 and still drives a pickup truck to work five days a week. Another intriguing tidbit is that he drives that rig from his Vancouver home all the way to Saskatchewan at least once a year to check on the various businesses he owns there, including Pattison Agriculture, a farm equipment dealer with multiple stores headquartered in Swift Current.

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For sale: the unremarkable yellow house behind billionaire jimmy pattison’s empire   back to video.

Pattison enjoys meeting with employees there, and checking up on things, which is key since the thought of not checking up on things, or perhaps slowing down a step as he ticks near life’s century mark, has never occurred to the self-made tycoon, who struck out on his own in business in 1961 without any “money” to his name.

Pattison’s wife Mary was equally broke during the couple’s formative days. But what the Saskatchewanian transplants to the West Coast did possess, in addition to young children, was a yellow, four-bedroom, two-bathroom, beachfront home at 1448 Argyle Ave. in West Vancouver. To the best of Pattison’s recollection, he paid $16,000 for the unremarkable house in 1955.

“I used the equity we had in the house to get my start in business,” he said from his Vancouver office.

That house is currently up for sale for $1, with the catch being you have to move it to make way for a park. But to Pattison, it’s worth so much more.

He was in his 20s and working as a used car salesman when he bought it, and could the kid from Saskatchewan ever talk. He had the gift of the gab and for closing deals, something he brought to a meeting with a Royal Bank of Canada employee that concluded with a $40,000 loan, all thanks to the yellow house.

“It was a great house, right on the water, with great neighbours,” he said. “The tides would come in, and so we built a cement wall to protect it.”

Pattison used the loan to open a Pontiac dealership. More dealerships followed, and within a few decades, the guy who started with nothing but a house was selling more cars than anybody in Western Canada, and well on his way to becoming a billionaire several times over.

Today, he has a hand in much more than just automobiles. He’s in advertising, forest products, media, seafood, grocery stores, commercial real estate, an ocean terminal and even owns the Guinness World Records brand.

Pattison brings representatives from all his various enterprises to Vancouver for an annual general meeting, where the head of each business unit pitches their plan for the year ahead. The owner and the other attendees hear them out, and fire questions at them.

“We are very busy,” he said.

All that activity perhaps explains why Pattison never got around to selling the house at the heart of his entrepreneurial origin story, even after he, Mary and the kids upsized to a much larger West Vancouver home. That move allowed his parents to take up residence in the old waterfront place. After his folks passed away, the captain of his 150-foot yacht, called the Nova Star, lived there.

That is just about where things stood until late December 2022, when Mark Sager, Mayor of the District of West Vancouver, invited Pattison to dinner. Historically, Vancouver and, lately, the district of West Vancouver had been attempting to buy up 32 beachfront properties in the Ambleside neighbourhood to convert the area into parkland.

The process kicked off in the 1970s and had come down to two final holdout homes. Pattison just so happened to own one of them, so the mayor gave the billionaire a call.

“I have known Jimmy my entire life,” Sager said. “Literally, he was friends with my dad. He started out selling cars with my father-in-law. He really didn’t want to sell the house, but I said, ‘Jimmy, it is time.’”

And it turned out it was.

The district engineered what amounted to a $5.175-million land swap for 1448 Argyle Ave. in January. The district paid Pattison said amount, while Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. gave a similar amount to the district for two non-beachfront pieces of land that had been donated by a private citizen.

Theories abound as to why Pattison held onto the yellow house for all those years, and the favourite among them was that he was emotionally attached to it. An alternate theory is that he is a whip-smart businessperson who knows a good piece of real estate when he sees one. Now, his old place is back up for sale — for a dollar.

“We are not trying to make any money out of it; we just don’t want the house to go to waste,” Sager said. “We’ve already got one bid from a company. I am hoping that somebody is able to lift the house, take it away and reuse it.”

The mayor shares an illuminating story about Pattison from his pre-billionaire days. His parents, Hank and Shirley, owned Sager’s Maple Shop, a furniture store in Ambleside. Pattison and his wife went there looking for items to furnish their yellow house. Hank loaded the selected pieces in his truck for delivery and was greeted at the house by Mary, who upon learning of the actual prices, politely observed, “Hank, we can’t afford any of this.”

But Hank knew Pattison was as good as his word, and the word was he would pay him back. The delivery was completed; the bill eventually settled.

We are not trying to make any money out of it; we just don’t want the house to go to waste Mark Sager, West Vancouver mayor

“It is kind of a cute story, eh?” Sager said.

It is also a telling anecdote; a good reminder that we all start out someplace, even billionaires, and that Pattison did not start at the top, but in a yellow house by a beach. Now he has an office on the 18th floor of an office tower in downtown Vancouver. On a clear day he can look across the water and see his current home.

He previously owned the place next door to it as well, and got involved in the heavy lifting when he and Mary moved there, lugging some of that classic, mid-20th century, maple-wood, Canadian furniture Hank Sager sold to him on faith to its new address.

“We never paid for any movers,” he said.

Pattison isn’t entirely sure what to make of the list price of his old place on Argyle Ave. Were he interested in buying it back for a dollar, and he isn’t, he would probably try to find a spot for it next to where he lives now.

He definitely has enough resources at his disposal to do so, unlike the old days and unlike a lot of Canadians who lay awake at night worrying about the housing market .

Home prices, mortgage rate hikes, looming recessions, real estate bubbles — or not — and affordable housing shortages are on people’s minds. But Pattison isn’t one to overly fret on the overall state of housing or the economy.

Who is Jim Pattison? Empire builder and billionaire

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“I think the economy is going to be OK,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be fluctuations — we always go in cycles. But with immigration, and with new people coming in, I think we’re going to be OK.”

His view of Vancouver real estate would be best summarized as: it is tough to beat a picturesque city on the Pacific Ocean with a mountain backdrop.

“Where could you find better real estate?” he said.

It all depends on the person’s budget and personal taste, but should an unremarkable yellow house that needs a new address and a little TLC strike your fancy, inquiries are welcome. The deadline for submissions is June 28.

The bidding starts at a dollar.

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The Jim Pattison Group is Canada's third-largest privately owned company, a multinational conglomerate with interests spanning a wide range of products and services, including grocery store chains, automobile dealerships, broadcasting and print media companies, packaging and signage operations, financial services, and other enterprises. The Vancouver-based company is owned by CEO and founder, Jim Pattison, who has directed every step of the company's growth, including impressive annual revenue increases from just over C$2 million in 1961 to over C$4 billion in 2000.

Jimmy Pattison: Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

No history of the Jim Pattison Group is complete without discussion of its colorful, prominent, and controversial owner, President Jimmy Pattison. Pattison's influence on British Columbia has grown to such an extent that comedian Bob Hope once described British Columbia as a suburb of Jim Pattison. In a 1998 article for the Financial Post, Keith Damsell postulated: 'It's virtually impossible to spend a Pattison-free day in the province.'

Born in Saskatchewan, Pattison's family moved to British Columbia during the Great Depression. Pattison's entrepreneurial career began in 1935, when at age seven he sold seeds door to door. Other early jobs included bellhopping, washing cars, and delivering newspapers. On V-E Day in 1945, Pattison was called to work to deliver a special edition of The Province newspaper. Ever the entrepreneur, Pattison bought 100 copies himself and later sold them as souvenirs.

Later, while studying Commerce at the University of British Columbia, Pattison was distracted from his studies by his sideline of selling cars to his fellow students. Sensing a lucrative future in automotive sales, he dropped out of school a few courses short of his degree and went to work for a car dealership in Burnaby. Pattison's serious business activities began in 1961 with the purchase of the Burnaby dealership. By the turn of the 21st century, that little business would become a multinational empire covering several industries.

Pattison's business philosophy is said to be encapsulated by the tenet 'no partner, no shareholders, no relatives.' Analysts suggest that by keeping sole ownership of his ventures, Pattison is better able to keep his mistakes to himself and to maintain a long-term view of his enterprises. With a preference for moving quickly and acting independently, he has avoided the lure of the more rigid public market. Throughout Pattison's career, he has demonstrated a pattern of investing heavily in publicly traded companies, then buying out the shareholders.

Anecdotes about Pattison abound. One of the more widely told involved his unique tactic for motivating his sales force back in the days of his first car dealership. According to a Business in Vancouver special edition, 'Business Leaders of the Century (1998),' the entrepreneur would simply fire the lowest achiever at the end of each month. Depending on the source, Pattison is either a ruthless business man or a 'nice guy, devout Christian and family man.' Those advocating the latter perspective point out that he has been generous to a fault, donating both time and money to good causes and public works. In the early 1980s, some even began to refer to Pattison as a pornographer, after he purchased a magazine distributorship called Mainland Magazines. Public outcry from the women's community erupted at the discovery that approximately 250 pornographic magazines were included among the thousands of publications that this company distributed to British Columbia retailers. Stating that the content could be distributed legally in British Columbia, but admitting to finding the magazines personally offensive, Pattison promised to sell the company. However, the sale did not go as quickly as the public had hoped. When it later became known that Pattison was negotiating to sell Mainland Magazines to a business associate, the outcry and personal attacks continued.

Pattison's pragmatic approach to business was also visible when a former CBC journalist, Russell Kelly, published a highly unflattering biography of Pattison. In a review of Pattison: Portrait of a Capitalist Superstar for the Province newspaper, Pamela Fayerman noted that the book 'paints him as a greedy, porn-peddling hypocrite.' After another book firm sold the first run of 6,000 copies very quickly, Pattison's Mainland Magazines decided to handle the book and took over its distribution. Pattison reported that he had not found time to read the book himself, adding that he left marketing decisions to his employees.

Regardless of its detractors, The Jim Pattison Group is among Canada's largest corporate donors, and one-tenth of the entrepreneur's personal income is directed to charities. Pattison is said to have slipped a C$1 million dollar check into the collection plate of the church he attended and also to have donated C$25 million to a private Christian school. In 1998, Pattison donated C$25 million to a New York Business Association to help clean up the area and also gave C$20 million to prostate cancer research. Moreover, the entrepreneur also became known for spending time and effort on good causes. In the 1980s, he accepted the position to chair Vancouver's World Trade Fair, Expo '86, for a fee of one dollar a year. At project's end, amid criticisms of his ruthless managerial style and well-publicized allegations of conflict of interest activities, Pattison brought the C$1.6 billion project in C$32 million under budget.

As Pattison and his family have learned, there is a price to be paid for public prominence. Shortly before Christmas, 1990, Pattison's adult daughter was kidnapped. Pattison paid a ransom of C$200,000 for his daughter's release. Shortly afterwards, eight kidnappers were arrested and convicted. Five years later, another man was charged for attempting to extort C$2 million from Pattison and of threatening death or bodily harm.

A person of many interests, including playing the trumpet and the organ, Pattison has also become notorious for his personal shopping sprees, which have included the purchase, for US$4.6 million, of Frank Sinatra's former home in Palm Springs, California, complete with furniture and Lionel model train collection. (The home was later designated for business use.) At an auction sale, Pattison bought John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls Royce for US$2.3 million. The Rolls was installed in the British Pavilion at Expo '86 and later donated to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria. Other purchases have included a US$1 million selection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, later included in the holdings of Pattison's Ripley's Believe It Or Not! entertainment and museum chain. The memorabilia included a traveling makeup case and color snapshots of Monroe's dog, Mafia.

However one views Pattison's approach to business, no one can deny the success of his enterprises. Business in Vancouver described Pattison as 'The quintessential West Coast entrepreneur,' concluding that, 'At the end of the century, Pattison is easily the most recognized and influential business leader in the province.'

History of an Canadian Conglomerate

The roots of Jim Pattison Group stem back to the late 195s when Pattison ran a car lot for a man named Dan McLean. In addition to setting sales records, Pattison convinced McLean to invest in the largest neon sign in North America. The sign proved significant, not only because it stood for almost 40 years, but also because it set the wheels in motion for what later was to become Pattison's Signage Group.

In 1960, Pattison was offered the chance to go in on a business deal with McLean's son-in-law. The deal would have made him a million almost immediately, but Pattison turned it down. Instead, he took out a C$40,000 loan against his mortgage and his insurance, and bought the troubled GM dealership he was working at, changing the company's name to Jim Pattison Lease. The bank loan was repaid within one month, and the dealership went on to become one of the largest in western Canada.

Pattison went on to acquire more companies in rapid order. First came the purchase of local radio station CJOR. Two years later, in 1967, he purchased Neon Products, the signmaker that had created the dealership's huge neon sign.

The entrepreneur began operating on a philosophy of ploughing most of what he earned back into the business, and he also believed strongly in diversification. As his success grew, and his acquisitions became larger, a personal style emerged that Financial Post writer Damsell described as 'the creeping takeover.' Under this method, Pattison took his time learning about a prospective takeover target, and gradually began buying shares in the company, before taking it over outright.

Not all of Pattison's investments were successful. In 1969, one of his holdings, a company called Neonex, unsuccessfully tried a takeover of Maple Leaf Mills Ltd. of Toronto. Pattison was almost bankrupted in the process. The Maple Leaf Mills takeover resulted in a series of lawsuits that took 13 years to settle. At the same time, Neonex incurred losses from a carpet company it had taken over. Neonex shares went from a high of C$45 to a low of 80 centers a share. Suddenly, Pattison was in financial trouble and his credibility had suffered considerable damage. When the entrepreneur rebuilt his fortune in the late 1970s, he took Neonex and another company, Great Pacific, private. Experts speculated that Pattison's experience with publicly held corporations had scarred him for life. A few other unsuccessful forays included involvement with the World Hockey Association and bids for such sports teams as the Vancouver Canucks and the British Columbia Lions.

Nevetheless, Pattison persevered and continued to expand his company. In time, he acquired grocery store chains, fish canning plants, and aviation companies, and, by 1970, the foundation of the Pattison empire was in place. In one of his better-known deals of the time, the entrepreneur purchased the maker of Orange Crush soda and sold it within six months at a C$44 million profit. Pattison's holdings in 1970 were generating over C$100 million in annual revenues, and the company employed over 2,000.

By 1979, Pattison had 44 profit centers, and the Jim Pattison Group was Canada's 11th largest company. It was the only privately held firm among the top 500. In 1980, the company reported annual sales of C$500 million and employed a work force of some 6,000. During these boom years, before the recession of the early 1980s, according to Vancouver Sun writer Der Hoi-Yin, 'Pattison had the incredible foresight to veer against the going takeover trend and instead liquidate the bottom 20 percent of his assets.' These assets, an estimated C$140 million in cash and liquid money market instruments, would later be used for new acquisitions after the recession ended.

In the early 1980s, a recession in Canada let to cutbacks and layoffs. Concerned over a myriad of challenges, including high interest rates, government deficits, high unemployment, low productivity, and the potential for an international banking collapse of a third world nation, Pattison cut back on expenditures and acquisitions. Still, during this time Pattison agreed to chair the world trade fair, Expo '86, for the fee of one dollar a year. He somehow managed to look after his own interests and manage the Expo project as well.

In 1884, Pattison drew upon his cash reserves and began aggressively acquiring new holdings, perhaps the best know of which was Ripley International Ltd., operator of Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums. At an estimated cost of C$17 million, Pattison acquired 13 wholly owned museums in Canada, the United States, and Europe, real estate properties, royalties to a Believe It Or Not board game that was then the number two seller in the United States, license arrangements to Believe it Or Not! novelties, and comic strips that were running in approximately 300 newspapers. Also during this time, Pattison added the Jim Pattison Yacht Leasing division to his business empire. It was the only leasing program for boats in Canada.

In the early 1990s, the entrepreneur overhauled and revamped many of his companies. By way of setting an example, Pattison pledged to cut his costs at the head office by 25 percent. Cuts included staff layoffs, cancelled publication subscriptions, elimination of travel and hotel expense accounts, and even efforts to reduce telephone bills. 'We have to get our costs down if we're going to continue to grow. We're cutting loose the non-performers and the businesses we don't think can make it in a borderless society,' Pattison was quoted as saying.

The 1990s brought about many new acquisitions and new markets. In 1990 the Jim Pattison Group acquired the Foodservice Packaging Group and the Flexible Packaging Group, as well as Coroplast and Montebellow Packaging. In 1991, the Jim Pattison Trade Group was established, as was a new Financial Services Division. By the mid-1990s, the Jim Pattison Group was generating annual sales of C$3.3 billion. In 1994, Pattison was involved in restructuring the debt of the Westar Group and became the majority shareholder, as well as acquiring Westshore Terminals, a British Columbia-based coal-export terminal facility. The following year, the Pattison Group acquired Buy-Low Foods, and in 1997, Pattison started Select Media Services. In 1999, he acquired Cooper's Foods.

Throughout his career, Pattison continued to support a theory of streamlined management. In 1997, the corporate empire, with C$3.4 billion in sales and 17,000 employees, was run with fewer than ten executives. After buying control of the Westar Group, Pattison closed down the head office and reduced staff there to one person. The Globe & Mail reported, 'When Mr. Pattison buys a company, its staff go into shock when they are presented with his management style, but workers who survive generally emerge as part of a healthier company.'

Surviving employees were often well rewarded for years of good service. The late Bill Sleeman first met Pattison back in 1961 when he worked for the GM dealership that Pattison managed. Sleeman later joined the Pattison empire and eventually retired in 1990 after 21 years of service. The North Shore News reported that Pattison gave him a red Rolls Royce convertible, saying, 'We gave that to him as a goodbye present. If there was anything better, we would have done that.' In his role as vice-chairman of the Jim Pattison Group, Sleeman acquired more than 50 private companies for his employer. At the end of 1999, the Jim Pattison Group had 22,000 employees and sales of C$4.6 billion, and the company showed no signs of slowing down.

Principal Subsidiaries: Jim Pattison Developments Ltd.; Canadian Fishing Co.; Merchant Media Ltd.; Ski Media Ltd.; Great Pacific Capital Corp.

Principal Divisions: Jim Pattison Trade Group; Food Group; Sign Group; Out-Of-Home Media Group; Automotive Group; The News Group; Communications/Entertainment; Broadcast Group; Financial Services; Flexible Packaging Group; Food Service Packaging Group; Specialty Packaging Group; Export Service.

Principal Operating Units: Buy-Low Foods; Save-On Foods; Overwaitea Foods; Giant Foods; Associated Grocers; Shop N' Save; Kanaway Seafoods; Ripley Entertainment; Guinness Attractions; Louis Tussaud's Waxworks; Beautiful British Columbia; Genpak; Purity Packaging; Fibracan; Montebello Packaging; Coroplast; Westshore Terminals; Strout Plastics; Continental Extrusion; Progressive Packaging; CFJC-AM/CIFM-FM Radio; CFJC-TV; Jim Pattison Toyota; Jim Pattison Lease; Jim Pattison Chevrolet Oldsmobile; Gould Outdoor Advertising; Hook Outdoor Advertising; MétroBus; Seaboard Advertising; Neon Products; Claude Neon.

Principal Competitors: Empire Company Ltd.; George Weston Ltd.; Canada Safeway Ltd.; Quebecor Inc.

Source: International Directory of Company Histories , Vol. 37. St. James Press, 2001.

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Jim Pattison, nicknamed ‘Canada’s Warren Buffett,’ drives his own pickup truck

Canada's third-richest man is 90, but not ready to take it easy at the Vancouver headquarters of his empire. Instead, he's criss-crossing Alberta and Manitoba to check on his latest venture.

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Jim Pattison roars through rural Saskatchewan in his silver pickup truck, barreling down the prairie road that runs arrow-straight to the horizon. Tossed into the back seat is a sleeping bag and crimson pillow — the unlikely berth for Canada’s self-made billionaire when he can’t find a motel.

Observing the speed limit appears optional, using the turn signal an afterthought. Not that there’s much in the way of obstacles — only shimmering fields of wheat stretching across a terrain so flat that if you lost your dog, as the saying goes, you could watch it run away for three days.

It’s here in Canada’s vast breadbasket that Pattison was born and where, at age 90, he’s overseeing one of the newest arms of his $7.4 billion empire: Pattison Agriculture, a string of John Deere equipment dealerships serving 21 million acres of farmland.

“We’re seeing more opportunities than we ever have,” says Pattison, steering confidently, his diminutive frame overwhelmed by the cavernous, black leather seats of his Ram 1500 Laramie truck. “There are still lots of opportunities with all the changes going on in the world.”

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The road trip offers a rare glimpse of the intensely private Pattison, Canada’s third-richest man, who created his iconic business group in seeming defiance of modern empire-building. He eschews emails, carries a cell phone but barely checks it, and can count on one hand the number of times his group has used an investment bank in recent memory.

Pattison is often dubbed Canada’s Warren Buffett — a trope that underscores how relatively unknown he remains outside Canada despite a conglomerate that operates in 85 countries across a dizzying array of industries: supermarkets, lumber, fisheries, disposable packaging for KFC, billboards across Canada and ownership of the No. 1 copyrighted best-seller of all time, the “Guinness World Records.” Believe it or not, he even owns the Ripley Entertainment empire.

“Back in Omaha, I’m known as the Jim Pattison of the United States,” Buffett quipped this month when he surprised Pattison onstage in Toronto as the Canadian billionaire was inducted into the country’s Walk of Fame. Pattison dismisses the comparison. “Warren Buffett is in a class all by himself,” he insists.

Pattison has driven 1,000 miles from the Jim Pattison Group headquarters in Vancouver, across the towering Canadian Rockies to the prairies where he’s acquired four farm equipment companies to create Pattison Agriculture. He likes to drop in unannounced on his holdings, including his supermarkets and dealerships, but word quickly gets around.

“You’re the man we’ve all been waiting for,” says the receptionist at the dealership in Moosomin, Saskatchewan (population 3,100). “You got a call, did ya?” he says with a grin as he shuffles into the shop, helping himself to popcorn as he quizzes employees.

He listens intently as they share their pain points — the dearth of mechanics, narrowing margins on new equipment sales, and the intolerable noise in the cab of a new tractor that has farmers complaining. He occasionally pulls out a pad and an array of colored pens but mostly relies on his still razor-sharp memory.

Pattison’s rags-to-riches story recalls a different era. Born in Luseland, Saskatchewan, during the Great Depression, he wore clothes stitched together from the castoffs of other children because money was so tight. The family moved out west when he was 6, settling in Vancouver’s gritty east side. In the summers he’d return to the family homestead in Saskatchewan, where the land was still plowed by horses. A natural salesman, he was touting seeds door-to-door at age 7 and within a few years was trouncing grown men in a competition to sell the most subscriptions of the Saturday Evening Post.

His path to fortune began with a Pontiac Buick dealership in 1961. He bought it with a Royal Bank of Canada loan after persuading the local manager to exceed the branch’s lending limit fivefold. He keeps the yellowing, handwritten financial statements from that first year in a clear plastic folder.

Pattison says his favorite job is still being a used-car salesman. “If I had to, I could always go back.” He parlayed that into a global business empire over the next five decades, completing hundreds of acquisitions to create Canada’s second-largest private company.

Pattison’s folksy approach belies the tectonic shifts facing some of his businesses. Magazines in their heyday were his best business of all, he says, but people aren’t reading print anymore — the group agreed to sell its U.S. magazine distribution business last month. His car dealerships have seen ride-sharing and autonomous driving threaten to accelerate the potential demise of vehicle ownership.

One of his biggest stakes in an outside company is Westshore Terminals Investment, North America’s biggest coal export facility, in Vancouver — a cash cow with a shrinking life span in an era of tightening emission standards. His biggest public holding is a controlling stake in Canfor, the lumber company that has plunged about 35 percent this year as the U.S. housing market slows.

“Some businesses — we’re exposed like heck,” he says. “But we make the best of what we got. This is part of why I’ve got a job.”

Behind that stodgy image are businesses navigating technological disruption.

The Pattison Agriculture dealership in Yorkton is a newly renovated hub in a region of 60,000-acre farms, some bigger than Lichtenstein. Most of the equipment inside costs half a million dollars each; some customers will drop as much as $29 million a year in purchases.

“See what it costs to be a farmer these days?” Pattison asks as he walks around the warehouse, his 5-foot-6-inch frame dwarfed by the tires on some of the machines. “They’ll be less and less small farms. What’s happening is consolidation, consolidation, consolidation.”

Historically, he’s kept the existing management in place after takeovers, and he gives his deputies a long leash. “He trusts people to do their job,” says his son. The organizational hierarchy is as flat as the surrounding prairies.

For a company with 45,000 employees, it’s still run a bit like a startup. To this day, the corporate headquarters on the 18th floor overlooking Vancouver Harbour and Stanley Park doesn’t have a human resources department. The most important hiring decisions over the years have been made by Pattison and Maureen Chant, his executive assistant of more than 50 years.

Chant may have the most understated job title in corporate Canada. With her shock of snow-white hair and round face, she looks more like a kindly grandmother than the invisible hand that’s kept Pattison and his incongruous empire running.

Chant advises the group’s nearly 30 business divisions and has influenced who runs them. She oversees Pattison’s $25 million, 150-foot yacht, the “Nova Spirit,” which has hosted everyone from Princess Diana to Oprah Winfrey. She also looks after his private jets, his Vancouver office condo and a Palm Springs property (previously owned by Frank Sinatra) where Pattison gathers his top lieutenants once a year. For most of her career, Chant has worked seven days a week.

Asked if he’d ever considered giving Chant, 79, a more prominent title, Pattison seems surprised-it’s never occurred to him, he says. “She’s been a major influence,” he says. “She can retire anytime she wants, but she works because hopefully she likes it.”

Asked whether he himself ever takes a vacation, Pattison says, “Well, I get 365 days… If you like your work, it’s not work.”

Jim Pattison

Early days : “Most of the time, I didn’t have the money to buy anything that was any good, so I had to buy stuff that nobody wanted.”

Jim Pattison Group : With 45,000 employees, it’s based in Vancouver B.C. and ranks as Canada’s second-largest private company. Includes car dealerships, supermarkets, farm-equipment dealerships and Ripley Entertainment. Board members include the CEO of Albertsons, Robert Miller and Blake Nordstrom. (Update: Blake Nordstrom died Jan. 2, 2019 , after this story first published.)

Billionaire Jim Pattison's West Vancouver house for sale for $1 — land not included

In the 1950s, a young car dealer named Jimmy Pattison traded a property he owned near Horsehoe Bay for a small yellow seaside home just a stone's throw from Ambleside Beach.

“The location, the water … the house was very practical for our family,” said the 93-year-old Pattison from the downtown Vancouver offices of the Jim Pattison Group headquarters Tuesday.

"There’s nothing I didn’t like about that house."

Over the years, Pattison’s family members and the captain of his yacht have lived in the home. But as most other waterfront lots between Ambleside and Dundarave were bought by the District of West Vancouver to make way for the public seawall, only Pattison’s house and the one next door remained.

When he was elected mayor of West Vancouver last November, Mark Sager hoped to changed that.

“This was a plan that started 40 years ago when council decided we wanted public access all the way from 25th (Street) and Bellevue (Avenue) to Ambleside Park,” said Sager, who knew he had to speak to Pattison.

“I’ve known Jimmy my entire life, and I phoned him up and said, 'I know this home has great sentimental value for you, but it really is time.' And he’s such a wonderful man, and he said, 'Mark, you’re right.'”

So Pattison agreed to trade the little yellow house again, this time for a piece of property that had been gifted to the district.

“That allowed us to be able to acquire this home without using any taxpayer dollars,” said Sager.

Now that the district of West Vancouver owns the plot of waterfront land, it’s selling the house that sits on it for the tidy sum of $1.

“And who buys the house has to pay for the move and have the land to put it on,” explained Pattison.

“We are hoping somebody will save this home,” said Sager. “Take it and float it away and put it in a new spot, and restore it and keep it so it doesn’t have to go in the landfill.”

The district is partnering with Light House, a non-profit that works to save homes from being demolished.

“This is a valuable home, it has housed people, it can still house people,” said Gil Yaron, Light House's managing director of strategic initiatives.

“There is a housing crisis we are facing today, and homes like the Pattison home can provide housing for people in other communities. There is no reason to tear them down.”

The mayor is confident the home can be moved in one piece.

“Nickel Bros, I believe, have been out and inspected it. They’re a moving company, so I think it can be, yes,” said Sager.

Pattison chuckled when he was told the home he bought nearly 70 years ago could be picked up and moved.

“I guess it’s not a big house, so you probably could do it,” he said.

And Canada’s second-richest man is thrilled the land it sits on will soon become part of the public seawall.

“People can walk in the nice weather, they can take their children there to play in the park,” said Pattison, adding that the district is "doing the right thing.”

The district is also in talks to purchase the house next door, which is now the last remaining obstacle to having a continuous seawall.

“The vision is to complete the Ambleside waterside acquisition plan, and the seawall that started all those years ago,” said Sager.

When Jimmy Pattison moved into the yellow house decades ago, the West Vancouver waterfront was mostly private property. The district hopes it will soon all belong to the people.   

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Jimmy Pattison's yacht Nova Spirit heads out for last-of-summer cruise in Vancouver

On the last official day of summer, september 21st, jimmy pattison's yacht nova spirit heads out on a cruise of indian arm, dodging three huge cruise ships in a busy vancouver harbour.   was invited once on pattison's yacht for a cruise of howe sound with some local luminaries like peter c. newman and assorted business and community leaders. had already decided that howe sound is my favourite place on the planet but that evening cemented it.   follow me on twitter @susangittins twitter.com/susangittins.

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Billionaire Jimmy Pattison is 94 and goes to work every day. What’s his secret?

He’s still overseeing an empire that spans eight industries (from coal terminals to grocery stores to novelty museums) and generates revenue of $14-billion a year

This article was published more than 1 year ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Evaan Kheraj/The Globe and Mail

There was a time, back in the 1960s, when Jimmy Pattison seemed to most Canadians like a magic trick. He was driven by unknown forces. “A jumping-bean of a man” is how one writer put it. One minute he was the owner of a car dealership, and practically the next, he was a “tycoon.” He’d bought an underachieving company selling outdoor illuminated signs and turned it into a conglomerate. A Vancouver newspaper called him a billionaire long before he’d actually achieved that status; it just seemed inevitable. By the mid-1980s he owned nearly 40 companies, all related to consumer goods or services, and still he wasn’t satisfied. He was the kind of rich man who owned a yacht luxurious enough to host Prince Charles and Princess Diana, yet still checked the coin-return boxes of every payphone he passed. The latest Forbes estimate puts his net worth at close to $15 billion, though he never took the Jim Pattison Group public, so it’s hard to know for sure. His value as an example of what any Canadian with an insatiable appetite for business success can achieve, however, might be immeasurable. We chatted via Zoom from his office in downtown Vancouver.

Okay, go ahead and shoot.

Great! Here’s my first question. You’re 94 years old, and you’re still CEO and chairman of the company you started about 60 years ago. Why are you working and not out on your yacht somewhere?

Well, first of all, because I owe the banks money. That’s a good start on it. But the reason I do what I do is ‘cause I haven’t found anything I like doing better. I like going to work every morning. In fact, when I get off this deal with you, I’m on my way to Saskatchewan, where we just built a new building for our John Deere dealership in Humboldt.

You once said, “You don’t have to be smart to make a lot of money, just as long as you’re not too stupid.” Is that true still?

If I said that, I don’t recall saying it. To make money, you have to find the opportunity, and then you have to execute.

Back when you started in the ‘60s, you had a Buick dealership and a radio station. Then all of a sudden you started buying a whole bunch of businesses. It was like you were struck by lightning. What triggered that?

What is that?

Young Presidents’ Organization. It was a deal, both in Canada and America, for people like me, that got together and had meetings.

You were inspired by YPO.

I was inspired. When I joined this organization, the B.C. group belonged to the American part of the organization. And the Americans tend to be very aggressive, in many cases, in business. And when I saw the vision these people had, with no money, it gave me the opportunity to grow.

You once said that what held people back was a lack of courage. Where did you find your courage?

Well, I can tell you, the Royal Bank loaned me $40,000, and I got started with a car dealership in Vancouver. That was my start. And so, I spent my whole life borrowing money, paying it back, and investing it in something that I had a rough idea I could make some money with. And some have worked, and some have not worked. (1)

Was there ever a time when your courage failed you?

That’s a very definite answer.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t make a lot of mistakes. Failures, I’ve had my share of those. But it was never because I was afraid to get up in the morning and try something new.

Since we’re talking about mistakes, do you want to tell me what you think your biggest mistake was?

I would say my biggest mistake was going into a high-tech deal I knew nothing about, with a bunch of people. I bought this company, and it was high tech, I didn’t understand the business, and the people were not competent. I probably paid a million and a half for it or something like that. I lost it all. That taught me a great lesson—to be sure I know a little bit about what I’m getting into.

If I were starting out right now and had my eye on making $1 billion, what advice would you give me?

Well, No. 1 is always be honest, no matter what. And if you’re borrowing money from the bank, you gotta have a good reason for where the money goes and why, and how you’re gonna pay it back. Work hard, be honest, and when you make a mistake, don’t try to prove you’re right.

Don’t keep hitting the nail with the same hammer. Just move on. If you find out you’re not a carpenter, quit and do something different.

I’m sorry to keep throwing your old quotes back at you, but you once said, “Deals are made in dark rooms and strange places.” Is that still true?

No. I don’t even remember that quote, if I said it. But usually when we were doing a deal, it would be a small little family business, and it could be in a farmhouse. It could be in a garage. It could be in a car. But it wouldn’t be in a fancy boardroom like I’m sitting in right now. The deals we do today involve more money and sophisticated people, and we usually have lawyers on both sides, and all of that.

As you were building your empire, a lot of people admired you. Was there a peer or business figure whom you admired?

There certainly was, and I can’t recall who they would be. There was one in Texas—I can’t remember his name today. And then there was a bunch of people, mostly Americans, that came from nothing.

Did you ever look up to Warren Buffett, as an investor?

Absolutely, Warren Buffett’s in a class all by himself.

You don’t see any similarities between you and him?

Oh, no. I’m a nothing compared to Warren Buffett. (2) Warren Buffett, by the way, sent me a picture one time, unsolicited, with a note written on it. And I got to know Warren Buffett. Now you’re talking to somebody that really knows what he’s doing.

Since the 1960s, you’ve been through a number of recessions. What is your opinion about where the economy is headed this year?

That we’ll get through it, and things will be fine.

Are you doing anything special to prepare for a possible recession?

We’re not doing anything special, but we’re cautious of being sure that we’re not over-leveraged, if things go wrong.

You used to make a distinction between business people in the West, and those in the East. You felt that westerners were more trustworthy. How do you feel these days?

I don’t recall ever saying that they’re more trustworthy. The people in the West, I have found, will take more chances than the people in the eastern part. They’re more risk takers than the people that I’ve dealt with in the eastern part of the U.S. or Canada.

Looking back, where would you rank Expo 86 on your list of accomplishments?

Well, the Expo turned out to be a success, and I was just one of the volunteers. We had hundreds and hundreds of volunteers in British Columbia that worked in the World’s Fair for nothing, and I was just one of them.

Weren’t you pretty instrumental in making things happen?

Well, I was running the fair, and it was my job. But you don’t do it alone. You hire people that contributed, and we had a lot of support from the B.C. government, the Canadian government. It turned out to be successful, but the government of Canada and British Columbia were the people that deserved the credit. (3)

Did your Expo experience ever inspire thoughts of running for political office?

It did. One night at nine o’clock, my phone rang at home, and the party that was in power at the time offered me the job as premier.

Oh, really?

I don’t even remember telling anybody that story before. But Maureen, my assistant, remembers. (4) They called at nine o’clock—a lady by the name of Grace McCarthy. She was a cabinet minister and said, “Jimmy, the premier’s gonna be retiring, and we’d like you to take the job on.” I remember it very well. It was at night, and I was on a speakerphone, and my wife heard the call. “Oh, Jimmy,” she said, “you should do that.” And I slept on it, and decided, no. I was gonna stay a businessman.

And you never considered it again?

I have, ‘cause I’ve had opportunities two or three times, to go into politics. But I decided that I would stick with trying to make money. And not for the interest of making money for money’s sake, but it’s what I like doing.

Looking back at your career, what is your proudest achievement?

I’ve never thought of it. But I got married in ‘51, and I’m still married. Same wife. (5) And this is 70-some-odd years later. I would say probably my biggest accomplishment was staying married, working at night, travelling all over the deal, and still having the same wife when I get home tonight. I got married in 1951 in Moose Jaw, Sask.

What’s your favourite part of doing business?

Going to work in the morning. Usually the two things I deal with are the problems, and the opportunities.

You’ve said many times that you never had any interests or hobbies outside of business, and you seemed proud of that. Is that still true?

I’ve never had any hobbies, but I’ve had outside interests. I spent years playing the trumpet. At one time, I played in the most famous boys’ band in Canada, and they travelled all over the United States, England. And then I learned to play the piano a little bit, so then I played in the church orchestra, and I played in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and I played in bands at UBC. I had a good time with that. (6)

What kind of music did you like playing?

I was basically raised on gospel music. But anything that—”Home on the Range”—anything that was popular. I learned to play without music, although I took music lessons for years, but I basically learned to play by ear. That was easy for me.

When you think about all the deals you’ve done, what was the best one?

The best one was the first one. I bought a General Motors franchise that was a three-pump gas station, and a two-car showroom. The dealership was not doing well, and the owner wanted out, and General Motors gave me the opportunity. I needed $40,000, and the Royal Bank loaned it to me, ‘cause I didn’t have a dime. And I went into business, and that’s the best deal I ever did.

How big a role did luck play in your success?

I’m saying luck.

Well, I’m saying timing. I would say that I’ve been very fortunate with timing, because I didn’t start anything when the whole world was crashing in a depression. It’s the key, ‘cause I’ve always been highly leveraged. Borrowing everything I could, up to the last few years, where we have a lot more of our own money, if you like. So, it’s been the Canadian banks and the American banks. I wouldn’t be here today, talking to you, if it wasn’t for the bank system, and two or three of the managers that took the risk on me.

You’ve been asked many times about your succession plan. The fact that you are still in charge, at 94, suggests you never got around to making one.

You are dead wrong. We’ve had a succession plan ever since I got to 75 or so. I’ve always had somebody coming along that was ready to be a successor, including today. (7)

Do you want to name that person?

No, I’d prefer not to name him, because I may change my mind, if it doesn’t work out.

I think I know what you’ll say to this, but I’ll ask anyway. Is a life spent acquiring businesses and building wealth an attempt to pursue happiness?

No. I like what I do. It’s been something that has turned out well for me. Listen, I’ve made more mistakes than anybody I know, but you don’t live with them. If you make a lot of decisions, you’re gonna make mistakes, usually. But on balance, it’s turned out okay.

I really enjoyed our conversation. Thank you for your time.

Well, Trevor, thank you for your time. I appreciate the opportunity.

1. In 1969, when Pattison was buying company after company, a Vancouver businessman who was asked about him said: “He’s so efficient he scares me.”

2. Buffett’s net worth is roughly $150 billion, a little over 10 times Pattison’s.

3. The World’s Fair, whose theme was transportation and communi-cation, drew 22 million visitors—triple the number who attended Expo 84 in Louisiana.

4. Pattison’s longtime assistant, Maureen Chant, confirms that Grace McCarthy, a powerful cabinet minister in B.C.’s Social Credit Party, did ask Jimmy to run for premier to replace Bill Bennett in 1986 or ‘87.

5. His wife’s name is Mary. They have three children—two daughters and a son, Jim Jr., who is president of Ripley Entertainment.

6. Pattison played with The Kitsilano Boys Band. And according to Chant, Pattison did indeed play trumpet with the VSO for several years.

7. There was speculation that former B.C. premier Glen Clark would take over—he was president for 10 years. But he stepped down in January, a move Pattison said was in the works for a long time. The new president is Ryan Barrington-Foote, a 45-year-old accountant.

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West Van buys Jimmy Pattison's waterfront home for $5.2M

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The District of West Vancouver has purchased one of two remaining privately owned waterfront homes in Ambleside – part of a decades-long plan to buy all of the land between Ambleside Park and John Lawson Park for public use.

Mayor Mark Sager announced at the outset of Monday’s meeting that the district had acquired 1448 Argyle Ave. from its longtime owner, self-made magnate Jimmy Pattison.

“I am delighted that we are that much closer to the completion of this waterfront park plan, something that has been welcomed and anticipated by the community and residents of West Vancouver for decades. I would also like to express my most sincere gratitude to my friend and longtime resident of West Vancouver, Jim Pattison, for helping to make this a reality,” Sager said in a release issued by the municipality during the council meeting.

The district agreed to pay Pattison $5.18 million for the 4,295-square-foot property. The Argyle lot was assessed in 2022 at $5.45 million.

The purchase was made possible by the sale of two district-owned lots on land that was once known as Brissenden Park in Upper Dundarave. Those two properties at 2523 and 2539 Rosebery Ave., sold for $2.59 million each. The buyer: Jim Pattison Industries Ltd.

The real estate deals are expected to close in August.

In an interview, Pattison said he has no plans for the Rosebery properties – and, in fact, he hasn’t even seen them.

“The answer is: I have no idea. I haven't looked at what the house looks like,” he said.

Told the two properties are mostly treed and undeveloped, Pattison was unfazed.

“That’s OK. If there’s trees, they’ll be fine,” he said. “I wanted to accommodate the municipality… They're doing the right thing, in my opinion.”

Pattison, 93, bought the Argyle property in about 1955, when he was still working as a salesman for a General Motors dealership in downtown Vancouver. When he decided to go into business for himself in 1961, he used his equity in the home to get his first $40,000 loan.

“The business did quite well when I got started so I never did have to sell the house,” he said.

When his father became ill, he moved his parents into the Argyle home, and eventually Pattison settled in the British Properties. In more recent years, Pattison has been using the home as a place to put up the captain of his yacht.

The new green space opened up on Argyle Avenue will be renamed Brissenden Waterfront Park to honour the family that donated the land later sold to finance the waterfront acquisition.

Pattison said he has very fond memories of his life on Argyle and he expects his old backyard to be well used and appreciated by the wider community.

“Some of the best years of my life, and I've had a lot of good ones, were in that house,” he said. “That'll certainly be positive for West Vancouver.”

Only one of 32 original privately owned properties remains, at 1444 Argyle Ave.

In his remarks to council, Sager said the district’s plans to purchase the waterfront weren’t always popular, dating back to his early days on council in the '90s, but he added it was the right thing to do.

“We wore a lot of scars because there were plenty of people in the community who thought we shouldn’t acquire those homes but I’m very, very happy that councils stood firm over all of the years and all the different people involved, and took every opportunity to acquire the homes,” he said.

Acquiring the last of the properties is one of the components of the 2016 Ambleside Waterfront Concept Plan, which seeks to revitalize the area.

[email protected] twitter.com/brentrichter

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The 2019 Top 100 All-Stars: Jim Pattison Group

The conglomerate that Pattison launched in 1961 remains B.C.’s biggest private company by revenue in our latest Top 100 ranking

Almost six decades into his business career, Jimmy Pattison shows no sign of stepping away from the diversified multibillion-dollar empire he built. What keeps him going?

(hint: it isn’t yachts and vacation homes).

It’s always risky to judge a book by its cover—or a man by his plaid jacket. But everything you need to know about 90-year-old Jimmy Pattison is evident, instantly, in the grip of his handshake.

You know what handshakes are like. Some are too weak, some too strong—some people hold on way too long. And, among men over 80, even the most robust usually offer something tentative—fragile bones wrapped in papery skin you wouldn’t dare squeeze. But the five-foot-six-inch Jimmy Pattison still takes your hand with the strength and confidence of a 32-year-old car salesman. The grasp is rock solid—not a hint too pushy—and the minute you feel it, you know two things absolutely: first, you could do a deal with this man; and second, he’s in amazingly good health.

We’re looking out from the 18th floor of the Shaw Tower on Cordova Street, admiring Vancouver’s harbour and the North Shore Mountains from the head office of the Jim Pattison Group (holding steady at No. 3 on this year’s Top 100 list). The reception room is like a cluttered study, filled with the awards Pattison has won, the books people have given him and, in the corner, models of every private aircraft he’s owned since he brought the first Learjet to Canada in 1969. When I mention his age, he shrugs and says: “Ninety. Well, I never thought about it, but it showed up.”

And it’s barely slowed him down. “I travel all the time in my job,” he says. “Nothing’s really changed for me. I try to work some part of every day. I come in early in the morning, and I go home a bit earlier than I used to—at 5:15 or 5:20.” Every night he’s in town, Pattison says, he takes his wife, Mary (née Hudson), out to dinner. They met at Bible camp when they were both 13 and have been married for 68 years. So, seriously, nothing’s changed.

Yet the private conglomerate that Pattison began to assemble in 1961 with the purchase of a General Motors Co. car dealership (“a two-car showroom and a three-pump gas station”) now employs 46,000 people in 541 locations around the world and reported revenue of $10.6 billion in fiscal 2018.

There’s no making sense of Pattison’s mix of businesses. In addition to the car lots (25 locations, 12 brands, 24,000 vehicles sold in 2018), he owns grocery stores (Save-On-Foods, Buy-Low, Quality Foods), coal terminals (Westshore), radio stations (Jim Pattison Broadcast Group), sign companies (Pattison Outdoor Advertising) and theme parks (Ripley Entertainment). And befitting a company that also owns the Guinness World Records operation, every Pattison asset comes with a superlative. His massively expanded Canfor Corp. (No. 12 on this year’s list) is now the largest global producer of sustainable forest products. Canadian Fishing Co. annually harvests more than 100 million pounds.

No matter who it is, you phone back

Asked what ties all these operations together, Pattison says only, “One thing’s led to another.” He seems to be the polar opposite of the modern corporate raider, the type who snaps up companies, strips their value and sends all the jobs to China. Rather, Pattison Group president and COO Glen Clark says that Jimmy’s strategy is: “Buy, keep management and grow the company. We’ve been successful with that. We buy good operating businesses and try not to sell too many.”

Besides, Clark says, “We like the diversification. At any given time, one or two companies might be going through trouble; diversification gives us strength.” And as Canada’s second-largest privately held company, Clark says, they get to make, and stand by, long-term decisions. “Being private gives us the ability to look beyond the next quarter.”

Clark, who was B.C.’s New Democratic Party premier from 1996 to 1999, says Pattison is also an exemplary boss. “He’s patient, disciplined. He gives everyone a chance to do well. That’s why our average length of service is so high.”

This wasn’t always the Pattison reputation. Paul Grescoe, the as-told-to writer behind the 1987 book Jimmy: An Autobiography , confirmed then (and now) that, as a young entrepreneur, Pattison regularly sacked his poorest-performing salesman. (As Grescoe says, “They were all men in those days.”) But both Grescoe and Clark defend the practice, saying you’re not doing a failed commission salesperson any favour by keeping them in a job that will never pay. They say that Jimmy wasn’t punishing underachievers, he was doing them a kindness.

This, then, gets to an interesting aspect of Canada’s fifth-richest man ( Forbes says he’s worth $7.7 billion): Jim Pattison has no critics. Actually, that’s an overstatement. For example, there are many who resent the breadth of his influence in the B.C. fishery. But unlike most business moguls, Pattison has no horde of angry detractors waiting by the phone to say uncharitable things.

David Baines, the retired Vancouver Sun columnist who for decades tracked bad behaviour in the B.C. business community, says Pattison has escaped criticism on two counts. First, because the Pattison Group is privately held, “It’s very difficult for outsiders to scrutinize his deals.” Second, Baines says, Jimmy “always returns reporter phone calls. Reporters feel flattered when the top guy responds.”

Glen Clark (who’s also excellent about returning calls), says that’s true: “It’s a rule in our office: no matter who it is, you phone back.” But Clark offers another explanation for Pattison’s resilient reputation. “Jimmy’s so ethical. It sounds like I’m biased—and actually, I am biased!—but he really is. Jimmy always says, ‘Try not to do anything we wouldn’t want to see on the front page of the paper.’ He has a strong sense of values.”

The power of giving

This certainly seems to be expressed in Pattison’s philanthropy. The Jim Pattison  Foundation gives away millions—or tens of millions—every year. For example, in 2018, the foundation committed $75 million to the new St. Paul’s Hospital and $50 million to the now-state-of-the-art Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon, where he was born. In the late 1990s, he gave what was then a head-snapping gift of $20 million to prostate cancer research in Vancouver, and he used that donation to leverage so much additional health-care money out of the provincial government to accelerate construction that the main building of Vancouver General Hospital is now known as the Jim Pattison Pavilion.

When I ask Pattison if these gifts gave him particular pleasure, he says, “Well, no. We’ve always—as most businesses do—given money to different causes.” But this may reflect modesty more than disinterest. As Grescoe reported in the Pattison biography, from his earliest days as a door-to-door garden seed salesboy in East Vancouver, Pattison has tithed: he’s given 10 percent of his income to charitable causes. But Clark says the boss doesn’t go looking for credit, even if other people insist on putting the Pattison name on libraries and buildings he has supported.

Really, it’s difficult to get Jim Pattison to admit that anything gives him as much of a thrill as just turning up for another day at the office. (“I like what I do. I don’t consider it work.”) One of his most famous indulgences is the 150-foot yacht Nova Spirit , which he bought in 1999 for US$25 million. If you stand close to the window, you can see it from the Pattison Group reception room, though Pattison himself is not one to gaze longingly at the view. “I don’t go out on the boat very often. We use it for entertaining customers, suppliers and special guests. But I don’t use it personally.” And, to be clear: he doesn’t fish.

He also doesn’t spend much time at the Rancho Mirage estate near Palm Springs that he bought in 1995 from Frank Sinatra. As with the boat: “We have meetings there. We bring customers there.” A cynic might wonder if Pattison is defending the tax deductibility of a holiday asset, but Grescoe says it’s a fair characterization of Jimmy’s passions. “The only extracurricular activity I ever saw that gave him pleasure was the trumpet. He really loved playing, and he was good. If he was going to take over someone’s company, he would take them out for a cruise and play the trumpet.”

As we are nearing the end of the interview, I ask Pattison about his plans for the future, to which he answers—without a hint of irony—”Oh, we’re just getting started.” Asked whether he’ll ever retire, he fairly snaps: “I hope not.”

Then, as I am about to leave, Pattison says, “Wait, you haven’t met Maureen,” and he turns us toward the office of Maureen Chant, the woman who has been his executive assistant for 56 of his 58 years in business. Chant is famous as Jimmy’s gatekeeper, a second and highly trusted set of eyes and ears. In a senior management group that is otherwise exclusively male, everyone acknowledges that she has always been the No. 2.

Sitting in her office, which is tucked in behind the reception area, Chant exudes confidence and efficiency, somehow appearing both warm and brusque at the same time. As we step through her door, she already knows who I am and why I am here, and she asks immediately if I got everything I needed. I say yes and ask: Is she ever going to retire? Chant pauses and looks to Jimmy, as if to check for an update, and then she says: “I hope not.”

As mentioned, the Pattison Group is a private company: you can’t buy shares. But if you could, I’d suggest that it would be on everybody’s “buy” list—as a long-term hold.

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He’s 91 and worth billions. Now Jimmy Pattison is hunting deals

Sometimes dubbed Canada's Warren Buffett, 91-year-old Jimmy Pattison has a view of the pandemic's impact that few can match.

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Billionaire Jimmy Pattison says his phone won’t stop ringing. There’s nothing like a global crisis to drive deals to those with cash.

“We’re looking today at opportunities like we’ve never had before,” Pattison said Monday by video conference from Vancouver. “We’ve never been in better shape to invest. The question now is, where do we feel comfortable?”

He’s 91 and worth billions. Now Jimmy Pattison is hunting deals Back to video

Sometimes dubbed Canada’s Warren Buffett, the 91-year-old Pattison has a view of the pandemic’s impact that few can match. He presides over an empire that operates in some 85 countries spanning an array of industries: supermarkets, lumber, fisheries, disposable packaging, theme parks, auto dealers and more. Last year, the closely held Jim Pattison Group Inc. had $10.9 billion in revenue and employed 48,000 people.

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Pattison said he has been contacted by a number of private companies, some of them “significant” in size, that need money because of COVID-19 and the recession. He won’t speculate on where he’ll do his next deal. But he is certain that some of the economic changes wrought by the pandemic will be lasting. Airlines are out, downtown hotels face a difficult road back and the restaurant industry will never be the same, Pattison said.

Among his own companies, the hardest hit have been tourism-related stalwarts like Ripley Entertainment Inc., which typically hosted 15 million visitors annually at its museums and aquariums, and the Canadian franchise of Great Wolf Lodge, a chain of indoor water parks.

“I can tell you one thing — there’s never been anything like this in the history of the world,” said Pattison, who grew up in Western Canada during the Great Depression. “It’s certainly going to affect what we buy.”

Before the pandemic, “I’d have put 100 per cent of our money into a Great Wolf Lodge, but I wouldn’t today.” The coronavirus isn’t a one-time risk either, he said. “It can happen again.”

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Climate Focus

Pattison, Canada’s fifth-richest person, built his empire from a single, loss-making Vancouver car dealership he acquired in 1961. His fortune today is worth about $6.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In his office hangs a framed photo of Pattison and Buffett with a message scribbled across the top by the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: “To a man who’s built a business as interesting as Berkshire’s.”

Pattison sits in a conference room at his 18th-floor headquarters in a tower that typically looks onto Vancouver’s pristine harbour and craggy, forest-draped mountains beyond. Recently, that view has been obscured by a sickly grey haze. Smoke from forest fires raging along the U.S. West Coast has been drifting north, at times making Vancouver No. 1 on the list of cities with the world’s most polluted air.

“We have got to focus on the environment, the environment, the environment,” Pattison said. “Anything that is negative, in my opinion, to do with the environment is going out of business sooner or later.”

It’s a remarkable shift in Pattison’s preoccupations. When interviewed by Bloomberg in 2018 over the course of two days, he never once mentioned climate change.

But the signs have become impossible to ignore. Exploding pine beetle populations are decimating the province’s lumber industry, with major impacts on companies such as Vancouver-based Canfor Corp., of which Pattison holds 51 per cent. The 700 boats his fishing business owns are finding it harder to catch fish in some places as oceans get warmer.

“It is absolutely the No. 1 thing that we have on our list when we’re looking at buying something — how does that affect the environment,” Pattison said.

Yet that conviction wavers when it comes to Westshore Terminals Investment Corp., the largest coal loading facility on the west coast of the Americas.

“If people want to buy the coal — we’re not selling the coal, we’re a service department, if you like, shipping it — that’s not our decision,” he said, acknowledging it’s a cash cow with a shrinking life span. “There will be a day, in my opinion, when there will be no thermal coal going out of that terminal.”

In the meantime, the former used car salesman is getting familiar with the trappings of the new energy economy. He spent last weekend test driving a Toyota hydrogen car around southwestern B.C.

“All I’ve driven is engines all my life and so when you get something that’s this smooth and fast and goes like a dart and quiet,” he trails off, marvelling. “Boy, I never drove anything nicer.”

Succession Plan

Like most, the coronavirus has changed Pattison’s daily life in unexpected ways. He values face-to-face interaction so much that he drives across part of Canada every year to visit his supermarkets and auto dealerships in person. Today, he estimates 70 per cent of the desks at Pattison Group’s headquarters are empty and he’s wondering how to plan that annual road trip when communities fearful of the virus don’t welcome out-of-town licence plates.

“I’ll go as soon as I think they won’t throw tomatoes at me,” he said.

Yet some things remain constant. Pattison still comes into his headquarters every day, as does Maureen Chant, his executive assistant for the past 57 years. He’s still acquiring car dealerships — four more in the last 120 days.

Pattison, who turns 92 on Oct. 1, talks matter-of-factly about his group’s succession plan, which he reviews and updates every quarter.

“If I don’t make it to dinner tonight, we’re all set to go,” he said. He has lined up the directors, the management team, a role for a foundation, as well as the next chief executive officer.

“There’s got to be one boss,” he said.

Who will it be? “You’ll find out.”

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