Who are Canada’s Billionaires? Forbes Visits the Rogues Gallery
by Barry Weisleder
Forbes magazine, a global media company focused on business, investing, technology and 'lifestyle', has just released its 2025 world’s billionaire list. It includes more than 70 Canadian publishing heirs, tech czars and entrepreneurs. Undoubtedly, they are among the 'patriotic', flag-waving rich who will demand concessions from workers in Canada to keep the economy 'competitive' in the face of the current tariff war.
The list of the world’s richest people is topped by very familiar names, such as tech magnate-turned-political adviser Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, the legendary Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and the two founders of Google, among others. All told, the United States is home to the most billionaires, 902 of them, while China has 516 and India hosts 205, the next largest aggregates of robber barons
The richest Canadian, according to Forbes, is ex-Binance Holdings Ltd. (cryptocurrency exchange) CEO Changpeng Zhao. His net worth registers at $62.9 billion -- 24th in the world. Born in China, Zhao, now in his late 40s, moved to Vancouver and attended McGill University before developing trading software and establishing an IT and business consultancy that “went on to count Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse as clients,” according to Maclean’s magazine.
In 2024, Zhao spent four months in prison and paid a $50 million fine for “failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program" during his tenure at the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. As part of a plea agreement, his company Binance agreed to forfeit over $2.5 B and pay a criminal fine of over $1.8 B for violations of banking regulations, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations.
Thompson Reuters heir Sherry Brydson ($16.7 billion) arrives in 125th spot. Computer scientist David Cheriton ($14.3 billion) lands at number 163. Taiwan-born Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai is with an estimated net worth of $12.1 billion.
Tobi Lutke of Shopify fame ($8.9 billion, 337th) and Lululemon founder Chip Wilson ($6.8 billion, 498th) also appear on the list, as do Mattamy Homes founder Peter Gilgan ($6.4 billion, 540th), White Claw creator Anthony von Mandl ($5.7 billion, 620th), Uber co-founder Garrett Camp ($5 billion, 717th), Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum ($2.8 billion, 1305th) and Grammarly co-founders Max Lytvyn and Alex Shevchenko ($1.9 billion, 1850th).
The youngest billionaires on the list are German pharmaceutical heir Johannes von Baumbach (19 years old, 650th richest), eyeglasses heir Clemente Del Vecchio (20, 512th) and WEG shareholder Lívia Voigt de Assis of Brazil (20, 2623rd). The oldest billionaire is the American insurance magnate George Joseph (103, 1850th).
Forbes’ list shows that the total net worth of the 3,028 billionaires on planet Earth is a staggering $16.1 trillion. The magazine claims that figure is “nearly $2 trillion” higher than it was one year ago.
“Not only are there more of them, but they’re richer than ever,” exclaims Forbes.
Socialists maintain that expropriation of that class of super-duper exploiters would almost instantly furnish the means to eliminate hunger, disease and poverty -- not to mention save the world from permanent war and environmental ruin.