#44 Gerald Schwartz
Net Worth: $1 B
Age: 78
Source: Finance
Industries: Finance & Investments
Gerald Schwartz runs Onex, one of Canada’s largest private equity firms. He got his start working with buyout legends Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts at Bear Stearns in the 1970s. The Americans left to start KKR in 1976; Schwartz went home to Canada and cofounded the media company CanWest in 1977. In 1984 he started Onex, which has quietly outperformed many of the vaunted American private equity shops. Today the firm boasts $38 billion in assets, which Schwartz manages as chairman and CEO.