Jay S. Hennick
Jay Stewart Hennick CM (born 1957) is a Canadian billionaire, entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist. He is the Global Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder of Colliers International Group, Inc. NASDAQ: CIGI and TSX: CIGI)[1] and the Founder, Chairman and largest shareholder of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSV and TSX: FSV).[2] He, along with his wife Barbara, is also the co-founder of the Jay and Barbara Hennick Family Foundation.[3]
Jay S. Hennick | |
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Born | Jay Hennick January 20, 1957 |
Education | York University (Bachelor of Arts) University of Ottawa (J.D.) |
Occupation | Lawyer, Entrepreneur, Executive, Philanthropist |
Known for | Chairman and CEO, Colliers International Group, Inc. Founder and Chairman, FirstService Corporation Co-Founder, The Jay and Barbara Hennick Family Foundation |
Website | JayHennick.com |
Early Life and Education
Jay Hennick was born in 1957 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At 16 years old, while still a teenager in high-school, Hennick borrowed $1,000 from his father Sam and founded a commercial swimming pool management business called Superior Pools which employed hundreds of students throughout the Greater Toronto Area.[4] Now called LIV North, the original business remains a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation. [5]
After graduating from high school in 1975, Hennick went on to study Economics at York University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978. He then received a Doctorate of Laws from the University of Ottawa in 1981. Hennick would later be awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from both York University and the University of Ottawa.
Legal Career
Upon graduating from law school in 1981, Hennick joined a predecessor to the law firm of Fogler, Rubinoff LLP and worked under the mentorship of senior partner, Lloyd S.D. Fogler, Q.C. After four years as an associate, Hennick was promoted to the position of partner, the youngest partner to be admitted to the firm.[6]
During his years in private practice, Hennick advised, structured and executed a variety of corporate and business law transactions including mergers and acquisitions, corporate financings and public offerings. Although his corporate law practice spanned many industries, Hennick specialized in regulated financial institutions such as banks and trust companies.[7]
FirstService Corporation
In 1989, while still working as a corporate lawyer, Hennick acquired the College Pro Painters franchise system and combined it with Superior Pools and a variety of other property service and maintenance businesses to form FirstService Corporation.[8] In 1993, Hennick made the decision to take FirstService Corporation public and completed an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. FirstService Corporation was subsequently listed on the NASDAQ exchange in 1995.[9]
In 1996, Hennick left private law practice to fully focus his efforts on the expansion of FirstService Corporation as the company’s Chief Executive Officer.
Over the next 25 years, Hennick would grow FirstService Corporation into a North American leader in the essential outsourced property services, serving its customers through two industry-leading service platforms: FirstService Residential, North America’s largest manager of residential communities; and FirstService Brands, one of North America’s largest providers of essential property services delivered through individually branded franchise systems and company-owned operations. In 2019, FirstService generated approximately $2.0 billion in annual revenues and has more than 20,000 employees across North America.[10]
The Board of Directors of FirstService Corporation include Jay S. Hennick (Chairman), D. Scott Patterson (President & CEO), Bernard I. Ghert, Brendan Calder, Frederick F. Reichheld, Joan Sproul, Michael Stein and Erin J. Wallace. Over the past 20 years, under Hennick’s leadership, FirstService has achieved almost 20% revenue compound annual growth rate.[11]
Colliers International
In June 2015, Hennick and other shareholders of FirstService completed a plan of arrangement to separate FirstService Corporation into two stand-alone publicly traded companies: Colliers International Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CIGI and TSX:CIGI) and FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ:FSV and TSX:FSV). [12]
Following the completion of the corporate spin-off, Hennick became Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Colliers International, and Chairman and Founder of FirstService Corporation. D. Scott Patterson, previously the President of FirstService Corporation, became Chief Executive Officer of FirstService Corporation.[12]
The combined market capitalization of Colliers and FirstService is approximately $8.0 billion. Hennick owns, directly and indirectly, approximately 18% of Colliers International and 14% of FirstService Corporation.[13]
Today Colliers International is a leading global real estate services and investment management company with operations in 68 countries, with more than 15,000 real estate professionals, $33 billion of assets under management and 2019 corporate revenues of $3.1 billion.[14]
The board of directors of Colliers International includes Jay S. Hennick (Global Chairman & CEO), Peter Cohen, John P. Curtin Jr., Christopher Galvin, Jane Gavan, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper (the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada), Katherine Lee, Benjamin Stein and Fred Sutherland.[15]
Relationship with Peter Drucker
In 1990, Hennick was introduced to Peter Drucker, one of the most influential management consultants, educators and authors in the field of business and entrepreneurial-ism in the 20th century. Over the next 15 years, until his death in 2005, Drucker acted as a mentor to Hennick as he sought to grow and expand FirstService Corporation. Drucker and Hennick met and spoke regularly, and Hennick has credited Drucker with helping to shape the business strategy and philosophy of both FirstService Corporation and later Colliers International.[16]
Philanthropy and community service
In addition to his active business career, Hennick has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada since 1998, Co-Chairman of the Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation from 2011 to 2013 and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mount Sinai Hospital from 2013 to 2016.[17]
In 2015, Hennick oversaw the merger between Mount Sinai Hospital, Bridgepoint Active Healthcare and Circle of Care to create the Sinai Health System, an integrated healthcare system serving the Toronto community that combines acute care, complex and rehabilitative care, primary care, home care and other community-based services to enable patients to move seamlessly across the continuum of care. In 2016, Mount Sinai Hospital opened the Hennick Family Wellness Gallery, which houses the largest collection of the art works of iconic Canadian artist Sorel Etrog.[18]
Hennick, along with his wife, Barbara Hennick, co-founded the Jay and Barbara Hennick Family Foundation, which donates to causes focused on education, healthcare and the arts. The foundation has also funded The Hennick Centre of Business and Law at York University, providing post-graduate studies for students in business or law,[3] and the Jay S. Hennick Business and Community Leadership Program at the University of Ottawa, which provides financial support to JD law students who have been admitted into the MBA program at the Telfer School of Management as part of the combined JD-MBA program at the University of Ottawa.[19]
Awards and recognition
- Canada's Entrepreneur of the Year, 1998[20]
- CEO of the Year, Canadian Business Magazine, 2001[20]
- Honorary Doctorate of Laws, York University, 2011[21]
- Honorary Doctorate, University of Ottawa, 2014[22]
- 2019 International Horatio Alger Award Recipient, 2019[23]
- Member of the Order of Canada[24]
References
- "Colliers.com". Colliers Leadership. Retrieved Jan 22, 2019.
- "About Us". FirstService. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- "Colliers International | Jay Hennick". corporate.colliers.com. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- "Jay Hennick: Big fish, small pond, an ocean of opportunity". Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- SEC. "Firstservice Corp 2019 Foreign Issuer Report 6-K". SEC.report. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- "Colliers International | Experts | Jay S. Hennick". www.collierscanada.com. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
- English, Chuck; Lidsky, Mo (2015-06-22). The Philanthropic Mind: Surprising Discoveries from Canada's Top Philanthropists. Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4575-3388-4.
- "FirstService.com". FirstService History.
- "First Service Company History".
- "First Service Why Invest".
- "First Service Newsroom".
- "Colliers International | About Colliers - Global leader in real estate services and investment management". corporate.colliers.com. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
- "Colliers International | Financials". corporate.colliers.com. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
- "Colliers International | About Colliers - Global leader in real estate services and investment management". corporate.colliers.com. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
- "Colliers International | Leadership". corporate.colliers.com. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
- Network, Editorial Staff at Management Matters (2016-09-27). "An Interview with Jay Hennick, Founder and Chairman of FirstService Corporation, Part I". FPSO Network. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
- "Jay S. Hennick". Sinai Health. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
- "Hennick Family Wellness Gallery". Sinai Health. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
- "Hennick Centre".
- "Reuters Profile". Reuters.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- "York University". News.YorkU.ca.
- "University of Ottawa". uottawa.ca.
- "Horatio Alger Association".
- "The Governor General of Canada".