Owner of Guinness Book of World Records Revealds as Canada’s Richest person

Investor James Pattison, owner of the Guinness Book of World Records, has emerged as Canada’s richest person after new information revealed that David K.R. Thomson, heir to the Thomson media empire, owns a smaller stake in his family’s investment company than previously reported.

Pattison’s namesake conglomerate has more than a dozen businesses, including media distribution, grocery stores, outdoor advertising and auto dealerships. He has a fortune of $9.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“I haven’t done the numbers, so I really don’t know,” Pattison said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I never pay attention to that.”

Thomson owns about 14 percent of Woodbridge, the Ontario-based firm that manages the family’s assets, according to a person familiar with the Thomson family’s finances who asked not to be identified because the company is closely held. Chief among Woodbridge’s assets is a 55 percent stake in Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI), the world’s largest financial data company.

In addition to his stake in Woodbridge, Thomson owns Osmington, a commercial real estate developer, a collection of John Constable paintings and a minority interest in the Winnipeg Jets hockey team. He has a net worth of $4 billion, according to the Bloomberg ranking, which had attributed the entire Thomson family fortune to him since its inception in March 2012.