Stephen Jarislowsky

People, who become millionaires or billionaires, get that way for many different reasons. Some come up with new inventions, some have web sites. But if you look in to the backgrounds of many millionaires and billionaires, a lot of get rich with investments. Or investment companies. This is the case with Stephen Jarislowsky.

He was born in 1925. He was born in Germany. His stepfather was a steel worker. His stepfather was ousted for helping the Jews. Jarislowsky was sent away to boarding schools in Netherlands and France. He then went to the United States when he was 16 years old. The depression that has settled over the United States had a great affect on Jarislowsky, even at that young age. He graduated high school then attended Cornell University for two years, getting a degree in mechanical engineering. When World War 2 started, Jarislowsky joined the army. In 1946, he went back to the University of Chicago and received a MA is Asian studiers, also a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard in 1949.

In June 1955, he started Jarislowsky, Fraser & Company Limited. Which he built into one of the largest and most successful investment management firms in Canada. Even today its managing assets are well over 40 billion dollars. He personally is worth over 1.2 billion, making him the 25th richest person in Canada.

He has been involved in several other corporations besides just his own. He is a Director of the influential C.D.Howe Institute. He has also been involved in many charities, including cultural and educational groups. Cultural contributions include The Stephen A Jarislowsky Dance Studio in Vancouver, and the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art, established in 2001 at Concordia University in Montreal. And on top of all of that, he is also an author. In 2005 he published The Investment Zoo: Taming The Bulls and the Bears, which sold more than 15,000 copies in Quebec and pushed the French edition of The Da Vinci Code out of the top position on the bestseller list.

He was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame last year. An achievement that he well earned. He may have started out as a poor kid from Germany, but he proved himself over and over again.

Even with his very busy life, he does have time to enjoy the finer things in life. He enjoys fine arts and has a grand collection himself. This collection includes things like Jade, Eskimo artifacts and Chinese furniture. But maybe even a greater achievement to have been able to add to his collection is the fact that he owns a private island in British Columbia. Yes, the whole island, all 16 miles of shoreline. Talk about a private get-a-way. He is married and has four children. His story is for sure a rag to riches story. But his is also a story of great determination that definitely deserves every penny he has.