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Thomson family still Canada’s richest

The wealthy Thomson family remains number one on the latest Canadian Business magazine list of the 100 richest Canadians.

TORONTO — The wealthy Thomson family remains number one on the latest Canadian Business magazine list of the 100 richest Canadians.

The Thomson clan, which controls the Thomson Reuters (TSX:TRI) news and specialized data company, has amassed roughly $21.99 billion, up 19 per cent over last year.

Most of that is in the stock value of the company the family controls as well as its investments in other firms, including a large stake in CTVglobemedia, owner of the CTV network and the Globe and Mail newspaper.

But that growth is nothing compared with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN) executive chairman Robert Friedland.

The magazine says his worth rose 217 per cent to $1.59 billion and he jumped 61 spots to number 32 on the list. Now based in Singapore, Friedland is also executive co-chairman, president and CEO of a Calgary-based Ivanhoe Energy (TSX:IE), a company developing a new heavy oil extraction technology.

The No. 2 spot on the Canadian Business list is occupied by Irving Oil owners James Arthur and John Irving at $7.28 billion.

The Irving group owns refineries, gasoline stations, trucking, shipbuilding, forestry and media businesses in New Brunswick and other Atlantic provinces as well as New England.

Galen Weston, owner of Loblaw Cos. Ltd (TSX:L), Canada’s largest supermarket chain, is third with $6.47 billion, followed by Vancouver businessman Jimmy Pattison at $5.07 billion.

Pattison’s private companies range from advertising and car dealerships to forestry, manufacturing and shipping.

The Rogers family of Toronto, owners of Rogers Communications (TSX:RCI.B), Canada’s largest cable TV and cellphone operator, rounds out the Top 5 at $4.7 billion.