Pierre Lassonde

In 2008, Lassonde revived Franco-Nevada by joining forces with David Harquail and the rest of the original Franco-Nevada team to acquire Newmont’s royalty portfolio. The born-again Franco-Nevada became the largest mining IPO (initial public offering) ever offered on the TSE (Toronto Stock Exchange) at that time. The market capitalization of the company was more than US$25 billion in December 2020. After 35 years with Franco-Nevada, at the Annual Meeting of May 6, 2020, Lassonde stepped down as Chairman and was elected Chairman Emeritus.

In March 2020, Lassonde was named Principal and Chair of Polytechnique Montréal’s Board of Directors for a five-year period. Polytechnique Montréal is one of the oldest engineering school in Canada. With over 10,000 students coming from around the world, it’s also one of the most diverse and recognized schools.

In July 2015, Lassonde was appointed Chair of the Board of the Canada Council for the Arts. Under his leadership the CCA has seen a deep transformation and board renewal that led to a doubling of the budget to $360 million by 2021. His insistence on measuring the impact of the investments has led to the CCA’s recognition as a world leader in the field. His five-year term came to an end in July 2020.

Lassonde served as Chairman of the World Gold Council from 2005 to 2009.

Lassonde served as Chairman of the Board of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec from 2005-2016. He led the $110 million fundraising campaign for the creation of the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion dedicated entirely to Canadian art. The Pavilion has revitalized the MNBAQ as it has won numerous architectural awards over the past four years to the end of 2020.

Lassonde served as President of Newmont Mining Corp. from February 2002 to 2007 and Vice-Chairman in 2007.

In 1995, Lassonde backed his late wife Claudette MacKay-Lassonde in the startup of Enghouse Systems Ltd, a provider of software to the telecommunication companies. The company today has revenues of over $500 million per year and market capitalization of over $3 billion (December 2020). He is the second-largest shareholder and a Director of the company.

In 1993, Lassonde led a group of investors in another startup, Metallica Resources. The company was responsible for the discovery of the world-class El Morro deposit in Chile and the Cerro San Pedro mine in Mexico. In 2010, Metallica merged with Peak Gold and Newgold and later on with Western Goldfields Resources to create a leading mid-size gold-producing company. He left the Board of Newgold in 2014.

In addition, Lassonde authored in 1990 The Gold Book: The Complete Investment Guide to Precious Metals.

In 1982, he co-founded, along with his business partner Seymour Schulich, Franco-Nevada Corporation, the first publicly traded gold royalty company. In 1985, Franco-Nevada acquired for US$2 million a royalty on a small mining operation in the heart of the Carlin gold belt of Nevada. Two years later, the property was acquired by Barrick Gold, who discovered the world class Goldstrike deposit. From inception to February 2002, when the company was sold to Newmont Mining for US$3.2billion, Franco-Nevada provided its shareholders a 36% annualized rate of return.

After receiving his MBA from the University of Utah, he joined the Mining and Metals Division of Bechtel, based in San Francisco, California. In 1977, he accepted a position in the Strategic Planning Dept. of Rio Algom in Toronto, Ontario. He joined Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd., a leading Institutional money management firm in 1980 as mining analyst and precious metal portfolio manager. There he managed the very successful Dynamic Gold Fund for a period of 10 years.

Pierre Lassonde was born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, the third of four children. He studied at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe and graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts. He then attended the École Polytechnique de Montréal, a school affiliated with the University of Montreal, graduating with a BSc in Electrical Engineering in 1971. He attended the University of Utah and received his MBA in 1973. He earned his CFA designation in 1983.

Pierre Lassonde OC GOQ (born 1947) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.