George Alexander Cope (born 28 July 1961) is a Canadian businessman, and the former CEO of

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

Early life and education

Cope was born in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and grew up in

Port Perry Port Perry is a community located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada. The town is located northeast of central Toronto, north of Oshawa, and east of Whitby, Ontario, Whitby. Port Perry has a population of 9,553 as of 2021. Port Perry serves as the admi ...

. Cope's father played for a short time for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

, after which he ran gas stations and rustproofing shops. Cope's mother ran a store that sold fabrics. Cope attended Port Perry High School and played on the high school's basketball team and was also student council president. He earned a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree with honours in 1984 from the

Ivey Business School Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

at Western University.

Career

Cope was named CEO of Bell at the age of 53 as part of a proposed thirty five billion dollar

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

led by Providence Equity and the Ontario Teachers'

Pension Fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...

in 2008. Due to the credit crunch and the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, the buyout was cancelled. He led a competitor, Telus Mobility, before becoming

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

at Bell in 2005. He previously ran Clearnet, a wireless company that was bought by Telus in 2000. In 2010, Cope led the launch of the Bell Let's Talk Initiative, a major corporate campaign to improve mental health in Canada, for which he received The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. In June 2019, BCE announced Cope will retire in January 2020, at which point COO Mirko Bibic will become CEO. Over the past 10 years, under Cope's leadership, company profits tripled to $3.05 billion.

Community involvement

Cope sits on the board of

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(MLSE) and was instrumental in the firing of

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

general manager Brian Burke after BCE acquired MLSE. As of 2015, Cope is also a member of the Richard Ivey School of Business Advisory Board at Western University and a member of the Business Council of Canada.

Recognition

Cope was named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year in 2015. He was also listed as one of Canada's top-paid CEO's by

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

in 2014.

References

External links

George Cope's Biography at BCE.ca
1961 births Living people Canadian chief executives Canadian corporate directors Directors of Bank of Montreal Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Members of the Order of Canada People from Scarborough, Ontario People from Scugog Bell Canada people University of Western Ontario alumni {{Canada-business-bio-stub