B.C.'s Jim Pattison surges on Forbes ranking of billionaires to become richest Canadian
B.C. business magnate Jim Pattison saw his net worth jump by over $2 billion in the past year, which saw him surge upwards on Forbes‘ yearly ranking of billionaires.
Pattison lands at the #213 spot on the 2025 ranking, which is a whopping 50 spots higher than last year, with a net worth of US$11.4 billion from his multiple advertising, entertainment, and food ventures.
This also gives Pattison the title of this year’s wealthiest Canadian.
Forbes Canadian Billionaires List
“The Forbes World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 7, 2025,” explained Forbes online. “Some people become richer or poorer within days of publication.
“We list individuals rather than multi-generational families who share fortunes, though we include wealth belonging to a billionaire spouse and children in certain cases, namely if that person is the founder of the fortune.”
Pattison is a household name not only in B.C. but across the country. This Vancouver-based businessman oversees a sprawling group that operates 24 divisions, including packaging, food, and entertainment. The Jim Pattison Group owns stores like Save-On-Foods, Buy-Low Foods, Pharmacy, and Urban Fare.
Pattison’s current net worth is up from last year’s $9.3 billion.
foundationguide.org
Coming in first place overall on the Forbes ranking was Tesla founder Elon Musk, with a staggering net worth of $342 billion. Mark Zuckerberg came in second place with $216 billion, while Jeff Bezos followed in third with $215 billion. The world’s richest woman was Walmart heir Alice Walton at $101 billion.
It seems that there are fewer Canadians who made the list this time, and there’s been a dramatic reshuffling, with some even dropping from the list entirely. Last year, 67 Canadians were among the richest in the world; this year, that number has fallen to 47.
Some notable Canadians are also listed from other countries in the latest Forbes list. They include Chinese-Canadian coder Changpeng Zhao’s country, who is listed under the United Arab Emirates (rank 24, $62.9 billion) and Vancouver-born and raised David Cheriton, who is listed from the United States (rank 163, $14.3 billion).
lululemon founder Chip Wilson also cracked the top 500 with a net worth of $6.8 billion, landing at #498.
Chip Wilson (Clem Louineau/ Daily Hive)
Forbes added that there are now more billionaires than ever: 3,028 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs make up this year’s ranking, 247 more than a year ago. Not only are there more of them, but they’re also richer than ever, worth $16.1 trillion in the aggregate — up nearly $2 trillion over 2023 and $1.1. trillion above the previous record set in 2021. The U.S. has a record 902 billionaires, followed by China (516, when including Hong Kong) and India (205).
In all, 288 new people joined the annual billionaires ranking this year. That includes celebrities such as rock star Bruce Springsteen ($1.2 billion), movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger ($1.1 billion) and comedian Jerry Seinfeld ($1.1 billion).
The full list of billionaires can be found online.
With files from Laine Wilson and Irish Mae Silvestre