Aspers drop off list of Canada’s Rich 100

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This article was published 05/12/2008 (6376 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The declining fortunes of Canwest Global Communications have smacked the Asper family in their pocketbooks and cost them a spot among the country’s elite.

The majority owners of the Winnipeg-based media conglomerate have fallen off Canadian Business magazine’s Rich 100 list, its annual compilation of the wealthiest Canadians. The issue hit newsstands Thursday.

A year ago, the fortunes of David, Gail and Leonard Asper were valued at $833 million, good enough for 64th position, but down from $1.1 billion and 41st place the year before. As of the magazine’s cut-off date of Nov. 3, their net worth had fallen nearly 60 per cent more to $341 million, more than $120 million below the “poorest” member of this year’s Rich 100, Montreal’s Molson family, whose beer-soaked empire was valued at $464 million.

Alex Mlynek, Upfront editor at Canadian Business, said the Aspers’ fortunes have fallen even further in the last month as shares in Canwest have dropped from 95 cents to about 65 cents.

“If they can turn the stock around, they could easily get back on the list,” she said. “I think they’ll be fine though, $341 million is nothing to sneeze at.”

In a recent interview regarding the family’s unwavering philanthropic plans despite the falling share price at Canwest, David Asper, a company vice-president, said nobody outside the family has any idea what their net worth is, least of all Canadian Business.

“That ranking has always amused me. They have no idea what we have outside of Canwest. That’s the beauty of having private business interests. It’s a complete shot in the dark. You’ve got to remember there’s quite a bit that’s not public,” he said.

Indeed, the Aspers’ business empire includes many companies not traded on a stock exchange. They include its real estate division, Creswin Properties Ltd., through which David Asper is hoping to build a new stadium for the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The ongoing economic slowdown has not negatively affected the Richardson family, however. The performance of their group of agriculture, real estate, financial services and oil and gas companies drove their net worth up to $2.34 billion (19th place), up from $2 billion (22nd place) a year ago.

Perennial front-runner Toronto’s Thomson family saw the value of its media and information distribution holdings decline, pushing its net worth down to $18.45 billion.

Mlynek said more than one-third of the entrepreneurs on this year’s list saw their fortunes decline over the past 12 months.

“It makes sense given the current economic environment,” she said.

Peter Nygard, the Finnish-born fashion mogul and former Winnipegger now living in the Bahamas, inched up two spots to 78th with a net worth of $676 million, up from $662 million.

Randy Moffat, former CEO and majority shareholder of Moffat Communications, rounds out the Manitobans on the list. He remains in 82nd place with a net worth of $598 million, down from $661 million last year.

This is Canadian Business’s 10th Rich 100 list. The magazine compiled its list by sending a team of researchers out to scour proxy circulars, insider trading reports and other sources as well as making “countless” phone calls to determine how much the Rich 100 and potential candidates were worth.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca