Jimmy Pattison

“By month three, the dealership turned profitable. By month 19, he'd repaid General Motors their entire 190,000 dollars, the fastest payoff in history.”

“Then in twenty-twenty, he bought the remaining Canadian magazine and booked Distribution business. The news group became the sole major distributor of periodicals in Canada.”

“They sold 1046 cars in a single month. More than any North American dealership had ever achieved.”

“He liquidated the weakest 20% of his assets, converting them into about one hundred and forty million dollars in cash and liquid investments.”

“With that, Jimmy Pattison had executed Western Canada's first Major hostile takeover. He'd gained control of a public company with 8.5 million in sales and 600 employees.”

“Leasing wasn't just a financing option, it was a customer retention system disguised as a payment plan.”

“The boy who couldn't afford piano lessons would eventually own the company that made pianos.”

“Jim's new philosophy was crystal clear. No partners, no shareholders, no relatives.”

“Patterson bought the station for 100,000 dollars. Within six months, it was Manitoba's top rock station.”

“He even won a contest for the highest sales of the Saturday Evening Post, competing against grown men.”

“Then, in twenty-twenty-four, at age 95, Pattison made his boldest grocery move yet. He acquired Save Mart Companies, Save Mart, Lucky, and Foodmax stores across Northern California.”

“The lesson, bad partnerships don't just slow you down, they kill your future. Jimmy learned it's better to own 100% of something smaller than 25% of something with the wrong people.”

“As the conglomerate bubble burst across North America, Neonex shares fell from 45 dollars to 80. Sense.”

“He built one of Canada's largest fleets with over 4000 vehicles.”

“NEONX had grown from 600 to over 4000 employees. Annual sales jumped from 8.5 million to one hundred and fifty nine million.”

“He was also relentlessly focused on cutting costs in the early eighties as they were heading into the recession. And before it head, even before it hit, he imposed belt tightening across the company, personally cut head office staff by 25%. He slashed travel a…”

“In NeonX's first year, Pattison evaluated over 200 companies and bought 13.”

“He refused to walk away from his debts. Instead, he found whatever work he could. Mechanic, laborer, anything. Slowly but surely, he started paying back every single creditor from that failed dealership. It took him 25 years.”

“He did the expo 1986, the Vancouver expo, and we didn't talk about this in the episode, but he ran this and he ran it successfully and under budget brought in all this money, all these companies to Vancouver”

“Two years later, Jimmy had developed what outsiders would call ruthless, but what he saw as a very necessary policy, crystallized in one brutal rule. Every month, whoever sold the fewest cars got fired. No exceptions. No negotiations. No second chances.”

“Neonex traded at two dollars and 50 cents, implying the company was worth more dead than alive.”