Gerry Schwartz

Template:Short description Template:Infobox person Gerald W. Schwartz, OC (born 1941) is the founder and chairman of Onex Corporation. Schwartz has a net worth of US$1.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.<ref name="Forbes profile">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life and career

Schwartz was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated from Kelvin High School in Winnipeg. He received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Manitoba<ref name="Forbes profile" /> where he became an active brother of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. He later received an MBA degree from Harvard University in 1970.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite web</ref>

In the 1970s, Schwartz worked at Bear Stearns,<ref name="Forbes profile" /> where he was mentored by Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., who later became a founding partner in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.<ref name=":02"/> Schwartz left Bear Stearns by 1977, returning to Canada.<ref name=":02"/> Along with Izzy Asper, Schwartz co-founded CanWest Global Communications in 1977.

In 1983, Schwartz founded Onex Corporation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Schwartz has been a director of Scotiabank since 1999. In 2021, Schwartz's net worth was estimated at US$1.5 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in Canada.<ref name="Forbes profile" /> As of 2015, he was the highest paid CEO in Canada.<ref name=straight>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2023, Gerald Schwartz resigned as CEO of Onex Corporation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

In 1982, Schwartz married Heather Reisman, who would later go on to become chief executive of Indigo Books and Music.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Schwartz has two children from his first marriage and two stepchildren from his marriage to Heather Reisman.<ref name = "jwa">Jewish Women's Archive: Heather Reisman by Michael Brown retrieved April 1, 2012</ref> The couple are members of the Reform synagogue, Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto.<ref name = "jwa"/> Schwartz and Reisman own the most expensive house in Toronto, valued at $28 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Recognition

The Gerald Schwartz School of Business at St. Francis Xavier University was named in his honour in recognition of his donations to the university.Template:Citation needed In 2005, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 Ontario Lifetime Achievement award.<ref name="ey">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2006, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.<ref name="Forbes profile" />

Philanthropy

Schwartz is the co-founder of the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers alongside his wife, Heather Reisman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The organization provides millions of dollars of support in the form of scholarships, a living wage and career development opportunities as a reward for military service with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) every year to non-Israeli Jews who volunteered to join the Israeli military and to some Israeli soldiers as well. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, he made a donation to University of Waterloo for an exchange program between University of Waterloo and the University of Haifa.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mount Sinai Hospital announced in December 2013 that a transformational $15 million gift from Schwartz and Reisman would be used to "reshape emergency medicine" at the facility.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Foundation donated $5.3 million to St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in late 2018 to create scholarships, bursaries and increased recruitment of business students.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In March 2019, University of Toronto announced that Schwartz and Reisman were giving the university $100 million to build a 750,000-square foot innovation centre through the Gerald Schwartz & Heather Reisman Foundation. According to Reisman, the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre will be used to improve technology, particularly Artificial intelligence, and how the public can relate to it. One of the two towers will house the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society and the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence while the other will include labs for research in regenerative medicine, genetics and precision medicine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>