About Ken Thomson
Posted June 12, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Some facts about the life of Ken Thomson, who died Monday at the age of 82:
Born: Sept. 1, 1923 in Toronto.
Family: Married to Marilyn with three children, David, Lynne and Peter. Only son of media magnate Roy Thomson.
Education: Attended Upper Canada College in Toronto followed by studies at Cambridge University in England.
Military service: Served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.
Career: Became chairman of global information group Thomson Corp. after the death of his father in 1976. Turned chairmanship over to his son David, but remained on the board and headed the Woodbridge Co. Ltd., his family’s private investment company.
Companies: Thomson assets have included FP Publications, then-parent of the Toronto Globe and Mail and several mid-sized papers, a stake in the Hudson’s Bay Co., interests in North Sea oil and gas, travel agencies, and the Times of London.
Charity: Donated $4.5 million towards building Roy Thomson Hall in 1982. Gave about 2,000 pieces from his art collection to the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Died: At his office in Toronto on June 12, 2006.
Some facts about the holdings of the Thomson family:
Major current holdings:
- A 70 per cent stake in electronic media giant Thomson Corp. (TSX:TOC) and Woodbridge Co. Ltd, the Thomson family’s private holding company.
- A 40 per cent stake in Bell Globemedia, which owns CTV Inc., The Globe and Mail and numerous other Canadian media businesses.
Other assets have included:
- A 76 per cent stake in the Hudson’s Bay Co., acquired in 1979. Thomson later sold 40 per cent of that holding; the company was bought by U.S. businessman Jerry Zucker in February.
- The Times of London and the Sunday times, which were put up for sale after a costly labour dispute in 1979.
- FP Publications — then-parent of the Globe and Mail and several mid-sized papers — acquired in the 1980s.
- The Ottawa Journal, which was closed down in 1980.
- Numerous other dailies in the United States and Canada, which Thomson began selling in the 1990s to focus on electronic data services.
- Interests in North Sea oil and gas interests, sold in 1989.
