A Look at the Glitz and Glamour of Canada’s Richest Residents

When the rest of the world thinks about the glamorous life of the rich, America is the first country that comes to mind. Specifically, New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. These cities are synonymous with riches, money, glitziness, and billionaires. But, the truth of the matter is that Canada has its fair share of ultra-rich residents as well. 

But, how do the rich live in Canada? We rarely get to hear about that. That is why, in this article, we’d like to focus on Canada’s richest residents. Take a look at how they acquired their wealth, and what conditions do they live in today.

Changpeng Zhao

At the top of the list of richest Canadian residents sits Changpeng Zhao, a Chinese-born businessman, who moved to Canada when he was 12. When the Zhao’s moved to Canada, they did not get an easy start. Changpeng himself had to hold a variety of service jobs at a young age to help support his family. Fortune would end up smiling on Zhao, however, when the crypto market began attaining mainstream attention.

While many might already know, for those unaware, Changpeng Zhao is the founder and (former) CEO of Binance, the largest crypto exchange platform in the world. The company has yielded immensely positive results for Zhao, as he is currently a billionaire, with a net worth of US$33 billion. Pretty impressive, as far as a rags to riches story is concerned. 

Currently, Changpeng Zhao lives in Dubai, one of the most glamourous cities on Earth, with his partner and three children. Unfortunately, the former Binance CEO is currently facing some serious legal trouble, and is looking at a 10-year prison sentence. Though, many expect he will get out in just a year-or-so. 

Mark Scheinberg

The Israeli-Canadian businessman, Mark Scheinberg made the bulk of his wealth by founding the online gambling company, PokerStars. PokerStars is one of the first online poker rooms to attain mainstream appeal. But, by now, it is just one of many online gambling sites that offer a variety of different games. If poker is your thing, PokerStars is a good choice, but if you prefer slots, roulette, or baccarat, then casinos.com has you covered.

As for Scheinberg, he sold PokerStars in 2014, for a whopping US$4.9 billion. An impressive feat, which elevated Mr. Scheinberg to the status of billionaire, with a net worth exceeding US$5 billion. After selling PokerStars, Mr. Scheinberg has retired in his residence in the Isle of Man, an interesting choice for somebody who can afford to live anywhere. 

It seems Scheinberg does not have much interest in the glamour and glitz aspect of wealth. Instead, he chooses to use his wealth to give back to the community. In 2020, Mark was one of the first to donate a good portion of his money to an organization dedicated to preventing the spread of COVID-19. According to what we know, he allocated over US$50 million for the cause. 

Mr. Scheinberg also has a vested interest in wild life and animal welfare. He has made significant contributions to both causes, by supporting Wildlife Ranger Challenge, a conservation fundraiser dedicated to saving the world’s rhino population. 

The Thompson Family

The Thompsons are the closest thing Canada has to royalty, apart from the King and Queen of the United Kingdom. They are an old family; whose eldest sons inherit the title of Baron of Fleet. At this point, the title is just that, regardless, it certainly sounds impressive, and quite glamourous. 

Though their royal title may not hold much water, the Thompson family is far from irrelevant. In fact, David Thompson, the current holder of the Baron of Fleet title, is the richest person in Canada, as of January of this year. His net worth amounts to US$61 billion. He also happens to be the 21st richest person worldwide. 

But, David is not the only member of the family who has experienced great success. Sherry Brydson, David Thompson’s cousin, and the granddaughter of Roy Thompson, has also experienced quite a bit of success in her own right. For one thing, she owns the biggest stake in the Thompson’s family company, The Woodridge Company.

Jim Pattison 

The last person we are looking at in this article is Jim Pattison. Born in a rural town in Saskatchewan, Pattison moved to East Vancouver when he was only six years old. He spent his time between the two small rural town, and the big city, which gave him quite a unique perspective on both the simple life of a small-town community, and the hustle and bustle of city life. 

Pattison began his career as a car salesman. Through sheer savvy and charisma, he convinced a bank manager to lend him $40,000, much more than what said bank would have allowed normally. He used that money to start a Pontiac car dealership. He did all of this, mind you, while he was still investing in his own future, and attending college. 

Car sales proved to be quite the lucrative business. Pretty soon, Jim Pattinson had a chain of car shops all across Western Canada. But, did he stop there? No – Mr. Pattison began investing in and purchasing businesses across the country. Pretty soon, he had become one of the richest men in Canada, and he remains among them to this day.

Jim Pattison’s net worth exceeds US$5 billion, as things stand right now. However, the data gathered here comes from 2018, which means it could have changed significantly in the past 6 years. For all we know, he could be richer than we think. 

Drawing Conclusions

We see that all of the people brought up in this article share a few things in common. The obvious is that they are all billionaires. However, one other similarity is that a lot of them (apart from the Thompsons) come from a humble background. They made their money through savvy, charisma, hard work, and dedication. If nothing else, that is truly admirable.