Pierre Lassonde (born 1947) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.

Early life

Pierre Lassonde was born in

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérég ...

, the third of four children. He studied at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts. He then attended the

École Polytechnique de Montréal École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, a school affiliated with the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, graduating with a BSc in Electrical Engineering in 1971. He attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and received his MBA in 1973. He earned his CFA designation in 1983.

Career

After receiving his MBA from the

, he joined the Mining and Metals Division of

Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...

, based in San Francisco, California. In 1977, he accepted a position in the Strategic Planning Dept. of

Rio Algom Rio Algom was a mining corporation that was purchased by Billiton in 2000 and is now part of BHP. Uranium It operated many uranium mines and mills in the Elliot Lake region of Ontario, Canada, including the Lacnor Mine, Nordic Mine, Panel M ...

in Toronto, Ontario. He joined Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd., a leading Institutional money management firm in 1980 as mining analyst and precious metal portfolio manager. There he managed the very successful Dynamic Gold Fund for a period of 10 years. In 1982, he co-founded, along with his business partner

Seymour Schulich Seymour Schulich, Order of Canada, OC ( , born January 6, 1940) is a Canadian businessman, investor, author, and philanthropist. Biography Schulich was raised in a Canadian Jews, Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec.Franco-Nevada Corporation, the first publicly traded gold royalty company. In 1985, Franco-Nevada acquired for US$2 million a royalty on a small mining operation in the heart of the Carlin gold belt of Nevada. Two years later, the property was acquired by Barrick Gold, who discovered the world class Goldstrike deposit. From inception to February 2002, when the company was sold to Newmont Mining for US$3.2billion, Franco-Nevada provided its shareholders a 36% annualized rate of return. Lassonde served as President of Newmont Mining Corp. from February 2002 to 2007 and Vice-Chairman in 2007. In 2008, Lassonde revived Franco-Nevada by joining forces with David Harquail and the rest of the original Franco-Nevada team to acquire Newmont’s royalty portfolio. The born-again Franco-Nevada became the largest mining IPO (initial public offering) ever offered on the TSE (Toronto Stock Exchange) at that time. The market capitalization of the company was more than US$25 billion in December 2020. After 35 years with Franco-Nevada, at the Annual Meeting of May 6, 2020, Lassonde stepped down as Chairman and was elected Chairman Emeritus. In 1993, Lassonde led a group of investors in another startup, Metallica Resources. The company was responsible for the discovery of the world-class El Morro deposit in Chile and the Cerro San Pedro mine in Mexico. In 2010, Metallica merged with Peak Gold and Newgold and later on with Western Goldfields Resources to create a leading mid-size gold-producing company. He left the Board of Newgold in 2014. In 1995, Lassonde backed his late wife Claudette MacKay-Lassonde in the startup of Enghouse Systems Ltd, a provider of software to the telecommunication companies. The company today has revenues of over $500 million per year and market capitalization of over $3 billion (December 2020). He is the second-largest shareholder and a Director of the company. Lassonde remains involved in gold mining through his private family office Firelight Investment LLC. He is one of the main shareholder of Orla Mining, which he helped create, as well as companies such as America Gold and Silver, Prime Mining, and Marathon Gold. Lassonde served as Chairman of the

World Gold Council The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, with the aim of stimulating and sustaining demand for gold. They frequently publish ...

from 2005 to 2009. In addition, Lassonde authored in 1990 ''The Gold Book: The Complete Investment Guide to Precious Metals''.

Philanthropy

Lassonde is an active and engaged philanthropist in both Canada and the United States in the fields of education, the arts and the community in which he lives. His donations total over $100 million and have gone to create iconic programs such as th
Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
an
Lassonde Studios
at the

in Salt Lake City, the Lassonde School of Engineering at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in Toronto, the Lassonde Mining Engineering program at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, and scholarships in Canadian universities. Lassonde served as Chairman of the Board of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec from 2005-2016. He led the $110 million fundraising campaign for the creation of the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion dedicated entirely to Canadian art. The Pavilion has revitalized the MNBAQ as it has won numerous architectural awards over the past four years to the end of 2020. In July 2015, Lassonde was appointed Chair of the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts. Under his leadership the CCA has seen a deep transformation and board renewal that led to a doubling of the budget to $360 million by 2021. His insistence on measuring the impact of the investments has led to the CCA’s recognition as a world leader in the field. His five-year term came to an end in July 2020. In March 2020, Lassonde was named Principal and Chair of

Polytechnique Montréal Polytechnique Montréal () (previously ''École polytechnique de Montréal''; ) is an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In English it may occasionally be referred to as "Montreal Polytech ...

’s Board of Directors for a five-year period. Polytechnique Montréal is one of the oldest engineering school in Canada. With over 10,000 students coming from around the world, it’s also one of the most diverse and recognized schools. * CDN$5 million to the University of Toronto, in 1996 to support the creation of the Lassonde Mineral Engineering program. Additional donations between 1999-2005 bring the total to CDN$10 million. * CDN$1 million to the College Marie-Clarac, in honour of his late wife Claudette MacKay-Lassonde for the creation of the Campus Claudette MacKay-Lassonde in 2001. * US$13.25 million to the

in 2002 for the creation of th
Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
with additional donations to bring the total to US$25 million. * CDN$8 million to École Polytechnique in 2002 for the Pavillon Claudette MacKay-Lassonde and Pavillon Pierre Lassonde engineering buildings. * CDN$5 million to the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 2006 for the Pavilion Claudette MacKay-Lassonde. * CDN$25 million to

in 2012 for the creation of the

Lassonde School of Engineering The Lassonde School of Engineering is the professional engineering school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Lassonde incorporates crossover programming with York University’s Schulich School of Business and Osgoode Hall Law S ...

. * CDN$3.9 million to the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ) in 2006 and additional funds in 2007 to bring the total to CDN$10 million to the institution. * US$1 million in 2014 to Opportunity International (OI) for the education program. Janelle Muntz Lassonde is the co-chair of this program. * CDN$5 million to

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

in 2021 to create the Pierre Lassonde School of Fine Arts.

Honours and awards

* Lassonde was appointed to 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 ...

in 2002 and promoted to the rank of Officer in 2022. *

The Northern Miner ''The Northern Miner'' is a weekly trade journal (formerly part of the Hollinger group) that reports on the mining industry. ''The Northern Miner'' began publication in Cobalt, Ontario, Canada, in 1915, and has since moved publication to Toront ...

's Mining Man of the Year 1997 award (with Seymour Schulich). * Mining Developer of the Year awarded by the

Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Established in 1932, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) represents the interests of the Canadian mineral exploration and development industry. The association is best known for its annual convention and trade show in Toronto. ...

(PDAC) in 1998. * Engineering Medal, 1999, awarded by the

Professional Engineers Ontario Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO; known until 1993 as the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, APEO) is the self-regulatory body that governs Ontario's 85,000 professional engineers, and sets standards for and regulates engineering ...

(PEO). * Inco Medal, 2001, awarded by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM). * Daniel C Jackling Award 2005 * American Mining Hall of Fame, Inductee, 2005 * GJ Stokes award 2007 * Degree ''honoris causa'' have been bestowed on Lassonde from the following universities: University of Toronto (2001), University of Montreal (2002),

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

(2006), Western University (2015), University of Utah (2006) and York University (2014). * Appointed Member of the Order of Canada, 2002. * City of Québec awarded him the insignia of the Order of Patrons, 2008. * Appointed Officer of the National Order of Quebec 2008 and Promoted to Grand Officer of the Order 2019. *CIM Robert Elver Mineral Economics Award, 2011. *Award for Outstanding Philanthropist by the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, Quebec Chapter, 2011. * Inducted into the

Canadian Mining Hall of Fame The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to honor Canada's mine finders and builders, in recognition of accomplishments by leaders in the Canadian mining industry. The Hall was established in 1988; in 2022 it ha ...

in 2013. *Award of Outstanding Achievement, Philanthropy by the Canadian Museums Association, 2017. *Gold Medal Award, the Mining & Metallurgical Society of America, 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lassonde, Pierre 1947 births Living people Canadian business executives Officers of the Order of Canada Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec David Eccles School of Business alumni Canadian philanthropists CFA charterholders Université de Montréal alumni People from Saint-Hyacinthe Businesspeople from Quebec Businesspeople from Toronto