Gerald W. Schwartz, OC (born 1941) is the founder and chairman of

Onex Corporation Onex Corporation is a Canadian investment management firm founded by Gerry Schwartz in 1984. In September 2024, it had $50 billion dollars under management. History Schwartz founded Onex in 1984 and took the company public in 1987. In Jun ...

. Schwartz has a net worth of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.5 billion, according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine.

Early life and career

Schwartz was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. He graduated from Kelvin High School in Winnipeg. He received his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

where he became an active brother of the

Sigma Alpha Mu Sigma Alpha Mu (), commonly known as Sammy, is a college fraternity founded at the City College of New York in 1909. Though initially founded as a Jewish organization, the fraternity dropped its religious affiliation and became open to men of a ...

fraternity. He later received an MBA degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1970. In the 1970s, Schwartz worked at

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

, where he was mentored by

Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. Jerome Kohlberg Jr. (July 10, 1925 – July 30, 2015) was an American businessman and investor. He was an early pioneer in the private equity and leveraged buyout industries founding private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and later K ...

, who later became a founding partner in

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

. Schwartz left Bear Stearns by 1977, returning to Canada. Along with

Izzy Asper Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper (August 11, 1932 – October 7, 2003) was a Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate. He was the founder and owner of the now-defunct TV and media company CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CE ...

, Schwartz co-founded

CanWest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, t ...

in 1977. In 1983, Schwartz founded Onex Corporation. Schwartz has been a director of

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five (banks), Big Five banks, it is the ...

since 1999. In 2021, Schwartz's net worth was estimated at US$1.5 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in Canada. As of 2015, he was the highest paid CEO in Canada. In May 2023, Gerald Schwartz resigned as CEO of

Personal life

In 1982, Schwartz married Heather Reisman, who would later go on to become chief executive of

Indigo Books and Music Indigo Books & Music Inc., known as "Indigo" and stylized "!ndigo", is Canada's only major English-language bookstore chain. It is Canada's largest book, gift, and specialty toy retailer, operating stores in all ten Provinces and territori ...

. Schwartz has two children from his first marriage and two stepchildren from his marriage to Heather Reisman.Jewish Women's Archive: Heather Reisman by Michael Brown
retrieved April 1, 2012 The couple are members of the Reform synagogue,

Holy Blossom Temple The Holy Blossom Temple is a Reform synagogue located at 1950 Bathurst Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the oldest Jewish congregation in Toronto. Founded in 1856, it has more than 7,000 members. W. Gunther Plaut, who died on 8 Februar ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Schwartz and Reisman own the most expensive house in Toronto, valued at $28 million.

Recognition

The

Gerald Schwartz School of Business The Gerald Schwartz School of Business and Information Systems is located on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia Antigonish ( ; ) is a town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The town is home to St ...

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...

was named in his honour in recognition of his donations to the university. In 2005, he was awarded the

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005 Ontario Lifetime Achievement award. In 2006, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

Philanthropy

Schwartz is the co-founder of the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers alongside his wife, Heather Reisman. 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. In 2006, he made a donation to

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

for an exchange program between University of Waterloo and the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. 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. 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. 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 Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

, 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwartz, Gerald 1941 births Living people Businesspeople from Toronto Businesspeople from Winnipeg Canadian billionaires Canadian company founders Canadian financiers Canadian investors Canadian Reform Jews Canadian mass media owners Canadian Zionists Directors of Scotiabank Harvard Business School alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Onex Corporation people Private equity and venture capital investors Canadian corporate directors Indigo Books and Music people Directors of Onex Corporation Bear Stearns people