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Thomson Reuters
The modern entity traces back to Roy Thomson's 1934 acquisition of the Timmins Daily Press in Ontario.
Thomson Reuters
The modern entity traces back to Roy Thomson's 1934 acquisition of the Timmins Daily Press in Ontario. His grandson David Thomson became chairman in 2006 after the family engineered the reverse takeover of Reuters Group. By 2008 Thomson Reuters traded publicly, but Woodbridge — the Thomson family holding company — retained a commanding ownership stake that exceeds two-thirds of board-controlled votes. The Chairman's brother, Peter Thomson, and other family members hold prominent board seats, keeping the governance firmly in Woodbridge's hands. The family's original wealth derived from newspapers, North Sea oil, and a famously timed exit from print journalism before the digital advertising collapse. Woodbridge invests across five pillars: public equities anchored by the Thomson Reuters stake, private equity, venture capital, real estate, and fixed income. It has backed firms like Nextech Systems, a Canadian medical records provider, and Kawartha Credit Union, and was an early investor in cannabis producer Canopy Growth. The private equity book includes direct control of The Globe and Mail through a separate family trust and longstanding stakes in telecom infrastructure firms such as Telus. Real estate holdings concentrate on industrial and commercial properties primarily in Ontario, most visibly through Osmington Inc., a Woodbridge-controlled real estate platform. The Thomson family fortune is pegged at roughly $70 billion in total assets by Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, though the holding company does not disclose a formal AUM figure. Woodbridge operates from Toronto and is run by a professional executive team answering to the family board. In October 2024 Woodbridge appointed Jennifer Tory, a longtime Royal Bank of Canada executive, to its board of directors, signaling continued professionalization of governance. What separates Woodbridge from other family offices is the shape of the underlying collateral: one of the world's largest public data companies rather than an operating business. That public stake provides a permanent liquidity tap other SFOs lack, letting Woodbridge write equity checks without committing to fund structures or outside LPs. The firm can sit in a company for decades without a return trigger, which it demonstrated by holding Thomson Reuters stock through three generational transitions without reducing control. This hybrid model — public conglomerate governance plus private family-office patience — is effectively unique in North American single-family structures.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2008
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
Canada
City
Toronto
Corporate office
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Principals
David Thomson
Chairman
Steve Hasker
President and CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes the final investment decisions at Woodbridge?
Woodbridge operates under a professional executive team led by CEO David Binet, who has overseen day-to-day investment operations for more than two decades. The Thomson family board, chaired by David Thomson, sets strategic direction and approves major capital allocations. The governance structure separates family oversight from professional execution, with Binet and his team managing portfolio construction across equities, private equity, real estate, and venture mandates.
How does Woodbridge's relationship with Thomson Reuters affect its investment strategy?
The Thomson Reuters stake provides Woodbridge with a recurring, liquid dividend stream that funds new private investments without requiring external capital or forced exits. This means Woodbridge does not operate on a traditional fund-cycle model and can hold assets indefinitely. The 2018 sale of a controlling interest in the Refinitiv data business to Blackstone generated a significant one-time liquidity event, further expanding the family's private-investment capacity.
Does Woodbridge accept outside investors or manage third-party capital?
No. Woodbridge functions strictly as the Thomson family's private holding company and does not solicit, accept, or manage third-party capital. Unlike multi-family offices or registered investment advisors that open their platform to external families, Woodbridge's mandate is exclusively to serve the Thomson family's wealth and the succession interests of its shareholders.
What does Woodbridge's real estate portfolio look like?
The firm's real estate investments are concentrated in Canadian commercial and industrial properties, primarily in Ontario. Its real estate exposure runs significantly through Osmington Inc., a Woodbridge-controlled development and property-management platform. The strategy favors stabilized, income-producing assets rather than ground-up development, aligning with the family's preference for long-duration cash flows that mirror the Thomson Reuters dividend stream.
How is the Thomson family's ownership of The Globe and Mail structured relative to Woodbridge?
The Globe and Mail is held through a separate family trust called the Woodbridge Company Limited, which also controls Thomson Reuters. This structure legally separates the newspaper asset from the broader investment portfolio while keeping ultimate decision-making within the same family governance orbit. The paper operates as a distinct entity with its own management and does not commingle capital with Woodbridge's main private equity or venture activities.
What venture-stage sectors does Woodbridge target?
Woodbridge has deployed venture capital into Canadian technology, healthcare IT, and telecom infrastructure. Confirmed investments include Nextech Systems, an electronic medical records provider for specialty practices, and an early position in Canopy Growth, a cannabis producer that became one of the most valuable pot stocks globally before the sector downturn. Its venture mandate is opportunistic rather than stage-gated and often originates through Canadian networks linked to family board members.
How does David Thomson's leadership differ from his father's, Kenneth Thomson?
Kenneth Thomson, who ran the family fortune until his death in 2006, was famously conservative and built the foundation by accumulating newspaper assets and then exiting them near the top of the market. David Thomson, who assumed the chairmanship the same year, accelerated the pivot away from declining media assets — most dramatically with the Refinitiv sale — and has overseen greater diversification into technology and real estate. He also delegated operational leadership to the Woodbridge executive team more fully than his father did during the aggregation phase of the family's wealth.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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