Canadian family worth a staggering $60.4B is one of the world's richest

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The Ontario family behind one of the world’s largest media empires ranks among the wealthiest in the world.

British-Canadian media magnate David Thomson (3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet) and his family rank as the 22nd richest on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list, which keeps a running index of the wealthiest individuals and families around the globe.

The Thomson family empire is worth a staggering US$60.4 billion as of January 2024.

The family fortune increased by $6.5 billion in the last year, and the family briefly held the 21st position at the start of 2024 with a net worth of $61.3 billion but has since fallen back to the 22nd position in Forbes’ rankings, the same place they stood one year ago.

The family controls The Woodbridge Company, the parent company of the Thomson Reuters media empire founded by Roy Thomson 90 years ago.

Through this globe-spanning publishing empire, the Thomson family has accumulated jaw-dropping riches that easily give them the title of Canada’s richest family.

David Thomson, in particular, has eschewed the spotlight since taking the helm of the empire following his father’s passing in 2006.

The Financial Post described him in a profile as the “mysterious” and “reluctant” head of Canada’s richest family, which is giving us strong Bruce Wayne energy.

So the Thomsons are, without a doubt, the richest family in the land. But it begs the question, are the Thomsons the richest individuals in Canada?

The short answer is no.

It turns out that another rising fortune has surpassed the Thomson family members as the richest individual Canadian.

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The next Canadian included on Forbes’ list is Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, who sits in 117th place worldwide with a fortune of $15 billion.

The 46-year-old CZ leapt 50 spots on the ranking since early 2023, when he was listed as the 167th-wealthiest with a net worth of $10.5 billion.

However, Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index ranks the Chinese-born Canadian businessman much higher, placing CZ 46th on its list with a claimed net worth of $31.9B

Bloomberg — which strictly ranks individuals rather than families — places Thomson Reuters Chairman David Thomson as the 193rd-richest individual with a net worth of $10.7 billion, with siblings Taylor and Peter Thomson ranking 195 and 196, respectively, with equal fortunes (members each share a 14% stake in the company) of $10.7 billion.

Regardless of whether he is worth $15 billion or almost $32 billion, both Bloomberg and Forbes agree that CZ is the richest person in Canada.