Willard Galen Garfield Weston (born December 19, 1972), known as Galen Weston Jr. or Galen G. Weston, is an Irish-Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Weston family. He serves as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of George Weston Limited, as well as executive chairman and president of Loblaw Companies Limited. He is the second child and only son of Galen Weston and Hilary Weston.

Early life and education

Weston was born on December 19, 1972, in Dublin, Ireland, where his father Galen Weston had relocated to in the 1960s. Weston's father originally moved to Dublin to start up a supermarket chain. He married Hilary Frayne there in 1966 and had two children, Alannah and Galen. The Westons relocated to Canada in 1974. Weston grew up in Toronto, Ontario, where he attended Upper Canada College. He subsequently received his bachelor's from Harvard University and his Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.

Career

Weston became the

executive chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Loblaw Companies Limited in October 2006. Previously, he had held positions in the company for eight years and was a member of its

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

. At that point, the company was worth around $9.5 billion. Weston has featured in a number of television and radio commercials for Loblaw and its brands. In September 2016, Weston took over from his father as CEO of George Weston Limited. On December 19, 2017, Loblaw and its parent company George Weston Limited announced action the companies had taken to address their role in a price-fixing arrangement involving certain packaged bread products. In the statement, Weston is quoted as saying "this sort of behaviour is wrong and has no place in our business or Canada's grocery industry," and that "this should never have happened." In response, Loblaw and George Weston said the companies had reported the price fixing to the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

, that the employees responsible for George Weston and Loblaw's role in this are no longer with the companies and the companies had significantly enhanced their compliance programs with measures that are industry-leading and go further than the Competition Bureau’s requirements. Loblaw also announced it was offering customers a $25 Loblaw Card, which could be used to purchase items sold in Loblaw grocery stores across Canada. Registration for the card opened on January 8, 2018, as of April 2019, many people have still not received the restitution. In June 2020, Weston confirmed the cancellation of an hourly 2.00 wage premium to Loblaw workers, which received criticism from then- Unifor President Jerry Dias. The premium was paid to low-wage grocery store workers, who were deemed "essential" and required to attend work while much of Canada was shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, Weston succeeded his father as the controlling shareholder of Wittington Investments, Limited, which controls George Weston Limited. In March 2021, it was announced that Weston would assume the leadership role at Loblaw Companies Limited following the retirement of Sarah Davis as its president that year, changing his title from Executive Chairman to Chairman and President.

Personal life

In 2005, Weston married Alexandra Schmidt, granddaughter of businessman

Thomas J. Bata Tomáš Jan Baťa, (; anglicised to Thomas J. Bata; September 17, 1914 – September 1, 2008), also known as Thomas Bata Jr. and Tomáš Baťa ml., was a Czech-Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He ran the Bata Shoe Company from the 1940s ...

and his wife, Sonja. They live in a private estate in Caledon, Ontario.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Galen G. 1972 births Living people 21st-century Canadian businesspeople Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian chief executives Columbia Business School alumni George Weston Limited Harvard University alumni Irish emigrants to Canada Loblaw Companies Galen G.