David Kenneth Roy Thomson, 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet was born on 12 June 1957, in Toronto, Ontario Canada, and is a Canadian media magnate. He is the son of the late Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet, and grandson of Roy Thomson, the first Baron of Fleet (created 1964).
David Thomson Net Worth $27 Billion
As of March 2015, David Thomson is listed by Forbes magazine as the 25th richest person in the world, and richest in Canada, with a current net worth approaching $27 billion. The majority of his wealth was inherited, and is based largely on the family’s media interests.
David Thomson was educated at Upper Canada College, and subsequently graduated from Selwyn College, University of Cambridge in 1978 with a BA in history. Thomson has spent his entire working life in the family business, although improving and extending the range of interests within it. He was manager of The Bay store in Etobicoke, and president of Zellers, a discount department store retailer. David founded the real estate firm Osmington Inc., owned and operated outside of the Thomson empire, and a partner in True North Sports and Entertainment, owners of the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets and the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. All these assets have contributed significantly to David Thomson’s net worth.
According to the plan in the legacy left by his grandfather, David Thomson became the chairman of Thomson Corporation in 2006 at the death of his father – apparently somewhat reluctantly – and after the acquisition of Reuters, became the chairman of the merged entity, Thomson Reuters in 2008. The conglomerate suffered somewhat during the subsequent global financial crisis, but has recovered in recent years, all to the benefit of David’s net worth. Additionally, though its Thomson Reuters stake is by far David’s (and the family’s) biggest holding, contributing almost $700 million in dividends in 2014, it also owns such assets as a $3.5 billion investment in funds managed by private-equity firm General Atlantic LLC of Greenwich, Conn., 13.2% of U.S. hotels group Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. and 85% of Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper.
In his private life, David Thomson is known as being a shy person, avoiding any publicity unconnected with business. Neither does he use his inherited title on any but formal, regal occasions.
David Thomson was married to Mary Lou La Prairie (1988–1996) with whom he has two daughters. He was then married to Laurie Ludwick (2000–2006) with whom he has a son, and has a daughter with actress Kelly Rowan, to whom he was briefly engaged. He currently resides in Toronto, Ontario.
David Thomson is a patron of the Art Gallery of Ontario. He is a noted collector of art, and is reputed to own the world’s top collection of John Constable paintings.
