Pattison's Path to Sole Ownership of $16B Empire and Astonishing Silver Saga
How Jimmy Pattison played the stock market to build a conglomerate and took it private when the market soured. Plus, getting caught up with the Hunt brothers. He's often called Canada's Warren Buffett. Jimmy Pattison's $16B (Forbes) empire employs 50,000 people. His incredible story includes becoming sole shareholder, and at 94, he still tap dances to work. At the age of 39, Jimmy was a burgeoning car dealer and owner of two local radio stations when he made a bold move in the stock market. He acquired a 20% stake in Neon Products through a hostile takeover in 1967, and rebranded the company as Neonex International. Capitalizing on the late '60s stock market boom, Neonex went on a buying spree, acquiring 18 other companies in just 18 months. The market was ecstatic, and the company's stock price reached $45 per share the following year. But the bubble burst in 1970, and Neonex's stock plummeted to 80 cents. Even as the company struggled to regain its footing thr