Frank Hasenfratz (1935 – January 8, 2022) was a Hungarian-born Canadian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

businessman, the founder and owner of

Linamar Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) is an advanced manufacturing company where the intersection of leading-edge technology and deep manufacturing expertise is creating solutions that power vehicles, motion, work and lives for the future. The Company i ...

, Canada's second largest auto parts manufacturer, with 26,000 employees at the time of his death.

Early life

Hasenfratz was an

ethnic German , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, born in 1935 in

Szár Szár is a village in Fejér county, Hungary. Famous residents * Frank Hasenfratz (1935–2022), Hungarian-born Canadian billionaire businessman, founder of Linamar Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR) is an advanced manufacturing company where th ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. He left

in May 1957, Canada, fleeing the failed

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, first to Austria, then Italy and France. He joined the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

, immediately realized he had made a mistake, and deserted, boarding a freighter bound for Canada.

Career

He settled in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He went to work in a machine shop supplying fuel pumps to

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, but a sizable percentage of them were defective, so he quit to produce higher-quality pumps himself. He started a one-man machine shop in his basement in 1964, and then incorporated in 1966 under the name

, named after his two daughters, Linda (current Linamar

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

) and Nancy, and his wife Margaret. At the time of his death, the company employed 26,000 people in 17 countries. Hasenfratz's 23.6% stake in the company, plus share sales, dividends, and other asset groupings gave him a net worth of approximately $1 billion.

Honours

In 2014, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

"for his contributions to Canada’s manufacturing industry and for his philanthropic initiatives". He was also inducted into the Canadian Manufacturing Hall of Fame and Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Hasenfratz was predeceased by his wife Margaret. He has two daughters,

Linda Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

and Nancy, and lived in Guelph. He died in Guelph on January 8, 2022, at the age of 86.Linamar & the Hasenfratz Family Announce the Passing of Founder Frank Hasenfratz
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasenfratz, Frank 1935 births 2022 deaths Canadian businesspeople Canadian billionaires Canadian people of German descent Members of the Order of Canada Hungarian billionaires Hungarian emigrants to Canada Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion People from Fejér County