OT: Former Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths tries to avoid declaring bankruptcy

groov2

Registered User
Apr 11, 2014
1,140
275
Vancouver
That's tough to read. I knew Arthur well. I was good friends with his sons and sat in the owners box in the Coliseum when I was a kid. Arthur is one of the most kind and classiest guys I have ever known - a real gem.
 

tradervik

Hear no evil, see no evil, complain about it
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Jun 25, 2007
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Urban legend and one that Pattison denied when asked about it a number of years back at a Vancouver Board of Trade speech that I attended.

The "monthly firing" anecdote was in a biography about Pattison written by Russell Kelly published in 1986. According to a friend who claims to have this directly from Pattison, Jimmy didn't view it as "firing someone" but instead as "letting them find a more suitable opportunity".
 

LolClarkson*

Guest
I don't really find it sad, to be honest. He seems like a nice guy, but a rich guy making bad business deals and going bankrupt doesn't really tick my emotional radar.

Seeing legacy wealth deteriorate to nothing is pretty sad IMO. His kids and grand kids will be working stiffs like the rest of us because of it.
 

LolClarkson*

Guest
Jim Pattison made it a point to fire an employee a month at his car dealership just to keep his remaining employees on their toes.

Tales like this are always told about the guys who make it big. It's all mostly BS
 

LolClarkson*

Guest
Things are not going well for Arthur... he owes more than $2 million and bankruptcy is a possibility.

I have known Arthur for many years and he is a truly nice guy - sometimes too nice and not ruthless enough.

Arthur Robert Griffiths, the former owner of the Vancouver Canucks, has filed for creditor protection in an attempt to reach a settlement with creditors and get out of debt without declaring bankruptcy.

According to documents filed Monday with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada, Griffiths, the former local sports mogul and scion of a famed B.C. business family, has liabilities of $2,092,577 and total assets of $36,970.

On Tuesday, Griffiths told The Province that his current situation was largely the result of bad business deals.

“It’s mostly associated with a company I was involved with,†Griffiths said. “The directors of that company left me holding the bag, and they left the country.â€
...
Province sports columnist Tony Gallagher, who covered his first Canucks game for the paper in 1972, said Tuesday the Griffiths family’s sporting legacy in Vancouver is “phenomenal.â€

“It’s just so profoundly sad,†Gallagher said. “He just didn’t seem to have the same financial acumen as his dad.â€

Gallagher said Griffiths experienced financial troubles ever since the massive cost overruns associated with the construction of GM Place.

“To his credit, he never pandered for any public money (in the construction of the arena), he put it all up by himself,†Gallagher said. “It was a phenomenal endeavour that he did that. Very beneficial to the Vancouver taxpayer.â€​
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Art...couver+Canucks+tries+avoid/9812791/story.html

What kind of business has he been in since he sold the team ?
 

Wetcoaster

Guest
The "monthly firing" anecdote was in a biography about Pattison written by Russell Kelly published in 1986. According to a friend who claims to have this directly from Pattison, Jimmy didn't view it as "firing someone" but instead as "letting them find a more suitable opportunity".
As I said Pattison categorically denied that he did this when running his car dealerships.

You are aware that the Kelly book was an unauthorized biography and widely viewed as a hatchet job. It has also been alleged that Bill Vander Zalm was involved in financing the book as Social Credit was searching for a viable replacement for Bill Bennett. Bill Vander Zalm would succeed Bill Bennett.

Pattison would counter with an autobiography called Jimmy, written with Paul Grescoe.
 

thom

Registered User
Mar 6, 2012
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Whether Pattison is honest or not-can you or someone tell me if Pattison ever came close to buying Canucks.A rumour many yrs ago said Pattison were interested in buying habs but later someone said it was not fact.According to Business mag-His networth is 7.4 billion dollars
 

Barney Gumble

Registered User
Jan 2, 2007
22,711
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Whether Pattison is honest or not-can you or someone tell me if Pattison ever came close to buying Canucks.A rumour many yrs ago said Pattison were interested in buying habs but later someone said it was not fact.According to Business mag-His networth is 7.4 billion dollars

Wonder if his ownership of the failed WHA franchise (Vancouver Blazers) made him hesitate on attempting to buy the Canucks?
 

Wetcoaster

Guest
What kind of business has he been in since he sold the team ?
He has been involved in various digital media initiatives and he had his own sports radio show on MOJO AM 730. He has also had a lobbying company - Arthur Griffiths and Associates.

He was President and CEO of Private Real Estate Company developing an office complex in Victoria and redevelopment of heritage buildings in Vancouver.

He also chaired the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Bid Society which helped to bring the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver and ran for the BC Liberals in the 2008 provincial by-election in the Vancouver-Burrard riding losing to Spencer Chandra Herbert.

Here is his bio:
http://agaa.ca/arthur-griffiths/
 

LolClarkson*

Guest
He has been involved in various digital media initiatives and he had his own sports radio show on MOJO AM 730. He has also had a lobbying company - Arthur Griffiths and Associates.

He was President and CEO of Private Real Estate Company developing an office complex in Victoria and redevelopment of heritage buildings in Vancouver.

He also chaired the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Bid Society which helped to bring the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver and ran for the BC Liberals in the 2008 provincial by-election in the Vancouver-Burrard riding losing to Spencer Chandra Herbert.

Here is his bio:
http://agaa.ca/arthur-griffiths/

I remember the show. The Business with Auther Grffiths.

Didn't he own the Grizzlies too ?
 

Fat Tony

Fire Benning
Nov 28, 2011
3,012
0
He has been involved in various digital media initiatives and he had his own sports radio show on MOJO AM 730. He has also had a lobbying company - Arthur Griffiths and Associates.

He was President and CEO of Private Real Estate Company developing an office complex in Victoria and redevelopment of heritage buildings in Vancouver.

He also chaired the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Bid Society which helped to bring the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver and ran for the BC Liberals in the 2008 provincial by-election in the Vancouver-Burrard riding losing to Spencer Chandra Herbert.

Here is his bio:
http://agaa.ca/arthur-griffiths/

Viewed in the current context, perhaps he would have been a lot better off sticking to one thing and excelling at that.
 

LolClarkson*

Guest
It says he has 36k in assets but I am sure he has assets in other names and maybe even whole other companies under LLCs, offshore bank accounts ect
 

Passthedonuts

Registered User
Jun 29, 2008
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0
Oakville, ON
It says he has 36k in assets but I am sure he has assets in other names and maybe even whole other companies under LLCs, offshore bank accounts ect

This.

Most wealthy people own a variety of corporate entities which would be excluded in a personal bankruptcy/creditor protection.

The most likely scenario is that his "bad business deal" was personally guaranteeing some sort of business loan that went into default. His statement "left holding the bag" implies that.

The purpose of creditor protection is to allow him to settle the debt for pennies on the dollar and not have to liquidate other assets.

I have business associates who are well connected to Arthur, and from the sounds of it, he is doing just fine - this situation notwithstanding. If he was in serious trouble, likely all his assets - including all corporations he owned would be included in this action.
 

carolinacanuck

Registered User
Apr 5, 2007
2,549
92
The Carolinas
This.

Most wealthy people own a variety of corporate entities which would be excluded in a personal bankruptcy/creditor protection.

The most likely scenario is that his "bad business deal" was personally guaranteeing some sort of business loan that went into default. His statement "left holding the bag" implies that.

The purpose of creditor protection is to allow him to settle the debt for pennies on the dollar and not have to liquidate other assets.

I have business associates who are well connected to Arthur, and from the sounds of it, he is doing just fine - this situation notwithstanding. If he was in serious trouble, likely all his assets - including all corporations he owned would be included in this action.

I'm not judging...but for someone who was most likely worth millions at one time, seems kinda strange to have his wife working as a customer service agent at WestJet (according to her Linkedin account)

But whatev...maybe she just likes to be out there working.
 

Barney Gumble

Registered User
Jan 2, 2007
22,711
1
It is a "misfortune" to have to be a working stiff!

"First world problems" eh?:naughty:

I'd suspect they'd still have some real world advantages via "networking" (knowing the right people or their father knows the right people). That alone is a big advantage over "Joe Shmoe".
 

Wetcoaster

Guest
I'm not judging...but for someone who was most likely worth millions at one time, seems kinda strange to have his wife working as a customer service agent at WestJet (according to her Linkedin account)

But whatev...maybe she just likes to be out there working.
Second wife - Arthur went through a divorce and his first wife would have received her share of his assets back then.

When you do manage to grab a few hours of free time, how do you spend it?

Family. I’ve got a very young daughter, I take her swimming and to gym classes and things like that. I like to cook. My wife’s a personal trainer but she’s also a chef, and so we like to cook and entertain. So it’s just the simple things at home.​
http://www.bcbusiness.ca/people/arthur-griffiths
 

Wetcoaster

Guest
Maybe if it happened to your family, you would realize that it is sad when wealth that was built up through generations of hard work, risk and frugality , is swept away.
Actually one generation as within two years of Frank Sr's death his business empire was crumbling.

When Frank Griffiths died his business empire was split between his widowed wife Emily and their four children - Arthur, Frank Jr. Mary and Emily.

Arthur got the Canucks with Emily getting a 10% share. It was her decision to sell that share that triggered the McCaw takeover and forced Arthur out when he was unable to come up with the cash to exercise his buy option.

Frank Jr and sister Mary got the broadcast properties (WIC Western International Communications Ltd.) and managed to quickly run them into the ground to the point that Frank Sr.'s widow, Emily was forced to push her son out the door.

At the same time as the Griffiths' began to feel the pinch on the sports side of their empire, the situation also began to tense up in the broadcasting arm. Their broadcast conglomerate, Western International Communications, bought out another family empire, Allarco of Edmonton in 1991. Allarco's founder, Dr. Charles Allard, died less than six months later, and his offspring began the fight to wrest control of their business back from the Griffiths. Arthur's brother Frank Jr. was appointed Co-Chair of WIC when Frank Sr. became ill, and endless court battles and takeover attempts have marred the two families' business efforts over the past five years. While the Griffiths' have rebuffed all threats thus far, the senior Emily Griffiths was forced to fire her son this summer after WIC President Doug Holtby resigned, admitting that Holtby could not be replaced as long as her obstinate son was in a position of such power.​
http://www.lcshockey.com/issues/57/feature10.asp

In 1998 Frank Sr's widow Emily, sold off her controlling interest in WIC. Ultimately after various court battles and shareholder unrest the Shaw family now controls almost all of the assets of the former WIC, through either Shaw or Corus as WIC is no more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_International_Communications

It has been claimed that Arthur's sister Emily is the best businessperson of the four siblings.
 

LolClarkson*

Guest
Actually one generation as within two years of Frank Sr's death his business empire was crumbling.

When Frank Griffiths died his business empire was split between his widowed wife Emily and their four children - Arthur, Frank Jr. Mary and Emily.

Arthur got the Canucks with Emily getting a 10% share. It was her decision to sell that share that triggered the McCaw takeover and forced Arthur out when he was unable to come up with the cash to exercise his buy option.

Frank Jr and sister Mary got the broadcast properties (WIC Western International Communications Ltd.) and managed to quickly run them into the ground to the point that Frank Sr.'s widow, Emily was forced to push her son out the door.

At the same time as the Griffiths' began to feel the pinch on the sports side of their empire, the situation also began to tense up in the broadcasting arm. Their broadcast conglomerate, Western International Communications, bought out another family empire, Allarco of Edmonton in 1991. Allarco's founder, Dr. Charles Allard, died less than six months later, and his offspring began the fight to wrest control of their business back from the Griffiths. Arthur's brother Frank Jr. was appointed Co-Chair of WIC when Frank Sr. became ill, and endless court battles and takeover attempts have marred the two families' business efforts over the past five years. While the Griffiths' have rebuffed all threats thus far, the senior Emily Griffiths was forced to fire her son this summer after WIC President Doug Holtby resigned, admitting that Holtby could not be replaced as long as her obstinate son was in a position of such power.​
http://www.lcshockey.com/issues/57/feature10.asp

In 1998 Frank Sr's widow Emily, sold off her controlling interest in WIC. Ultimately after various court battles and shareholder unrest the Shaw family now controls almost all of the assets of the former WIC, through either Shaw or Corus as WIC is no more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_International_Communications

It has been claimed that Arthur's sister Emily is the best businessperson of the four siblings.

Geez.

Media is a cut throat business. And it was bad timing for everyone involved. People think that staying rich and managing assets is so easy when its not.
 

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