Eric Sprott (born 1944/45) is a 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.

Early life

Sprott has a bachelor's degree from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Career

Sprott started his career as a research analyst with

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

, before becoming a fund manager. In 2001, he sold his first company, Sprott Securities, to the company's staff, and donated $10 million to Carleton University, who renamed their business school, the

Sprott School of Business The Sprott School of Business is a doctoral-granting business school at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – the nation’s capital. It is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Netw ...

. Sprott advised investors to buy gold before the 2008 financial crash. Following the financial crisis, gold rallied to a new all time high of over $2000/oz. He was the chairman of Sprott Inc, a Toronto-based asset management firm, from 2010 to May 2017. Sprott is a "long-time gold bull", and claims to hold 90% of his assets (except for Sprott Inc shares) in gold and silver.

Personal life

Sprott is married to Vizma Sprott and has two children, Juliana Haver and Larisa Sprott.

References

1940s births Living people Canadian billionaires Carleton University alumni {{Canada-business-bio-stub