Thomson is a co-chairman of Woodbridge, the investment firm that controls Thomson Reuters. The Ontario, Canada-based firm owns two-thirds of the publicly-traded financial data and services provider, which had revenue of $6.3 billion in 2021. He owns about 14% of Woodbridge's assets and his relatives own the rest.
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The majority of Thomson's fortune is derived from Woodbridge, an investment firm that manages the family fortune originated by Canadian media magnate Roy Thomson. After his death in 1976, Thomson's estate was divided between his three children. His son -- and David Thomson's father, Kenneth -- inherited 42%. His two daughters, Audrey and Irma, received 33% and 23%, respectively, according to a person familiar with the family's assets who asked not to be identified because Woodbridge is closely held.
Each heir evenly split their share in Woodbridge among their children, the source said. David and his two siblings, Peter and Taylor, each received 14% of Woodbridge. Each of Audrey's three children, Linda Campbell, Susan Grange and Gaye Farncombe, received 11%. A cousin, Sherry Brydson, the only child of Irma, owns about 23%.
David is calculated in this analysis to own 14% of Woodbridge's stake in Thomson Reuters and it's cash assets.
Woodbridge owns 67% of Thomson Reuters, according to a February 2022 filing.
The value of his cash and closely held investments is based on Woodbridge asset values as disclosed in a 2007 investor presentation and adjusted to reflect dividends, insider transactions, taxes and market performance. The family has collected more than $3 billion in dividend income and share sales since then, based on an analysis of company filings and Bloomberg data. David's share also includes proceeds from land sales associated with Osmington, his real estate company.
Thomson, through spokesman for Thomson Reuters David Girardin, didn't respond to requests for comment.
Canada's richest family was set on its path to wealth in 1931, when Roy Thomson acquired a radio station in Ontario. Two years later he bought the Timmins Press, a newspaper in Ontario. Within five years, Thomson was Canada's leading newspaper owner. After aggressive expansion in the UK, he sold shares in a public offering in 1965, with his son Kenneth taking over in 1976.
Kenneth's eldest son, David K. R. Thomson, took the reins of the family fortune on his father's death in June 2006. Today, most Thomson investments are made through Woodbridge, a family-owned investment company of which brother Peter is chairman.
As chairman of Thomson, David continued to expand the business, announcing a merger with Reuters in 2007. Woodbridge owns 63.4 percent of the combined company, Thomson Reuters, as well as holdings in commodity analyst IHS and Canada telecommunications company BCE. Woodbridge also has billions of dollars in closely held investments.
Outside of Woodbridge, David controls personal investments through closely held Osmington, a real estate company. He sold most of his shopping center interests to the Canada Pension Plan in 2010, and property management arm Redcliff to Calgary's Coril in 2011.
Thomson owns artwork by John Constable and is the sole owner of a minority stake of the Winnipeg jets hockey franchise.