Peter Munk - Biography

Peter Munk, CC (born November 8, 1927) is a Canadian businessman. He is the chairman and founder of the mining company Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining corporation.

Early years

Munk was born in Budapest, Hungary into a well-off Jewish family. Hungary was invaded by Nazi Germany in March 1944 when Munk was a teenager. His family escaped the Nazis by obtaining seats on the Kastner train, a train carrying 1,684 Jews to safety in Switzerland, arranged by Rudolf Kastner of the Zionist Aid and Rescue Committee as a result of negotiations with senior SS officer Adolf Eichmann. Eichmann allowed some Jews to leave for Switzerland in exchange for money, gold, and diamonds, that was obtained from the wealthy among them. as part of a series of so-called "blood for goods" deals.

Munk graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in electrical engineering in 1952.

Career

In 1958, he founded Clairtone with business partner David Gilmour. This company manufactured high-end console stereos and later televisions, which were recognizable icons of their day. The most famous Clairtone designs were the "Project G" series which was seen in the film The Graduate.

Later, he founded and was Chairman and CEO of Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation, the largest hotel and restaurant chain in Australasia in the 1970s. Munk is now Chairman and founder of Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold mining corporation. Munk was founder, Chairman and CEO of Trizec Properties (one of the largest U.S. REITs – listed on the NYSE), where in 2006 Trizec was sold to Brookfield Properties.

He is a distinguished lecturer at James Gillies Alumni Lecture, York University, Toronto. Munk has also been a member of various boards including:

• Trustee of the Toronto Hospital.
• Chairman of the University of Toronto Crown Foundation.
• Member of the World Gold Council.

Charitable contributions

In 1992, the Peter Munk Charitable Foundation was founded and has since dispersed approximately $100 million to a variety of organizations that work to improve the health, learning and international reputation of Canadians.

On May 30, 2006, Munk announced that he would donate $37m to Toronto General Hospital, the largest gift ever made to a Canadian medical institution. The donation would help to support the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, which Munk helped create with a $6m donation to the hospital in 1997. He is also a major donor to the University of Toronto, to which he has donated $50.9 million to establish the Munk School of Global Affairs. The foundation also created the Munk Debates.

According to Linda McQuaig's book, The Trouble with Billionaires, Munk’s latest donation to the University of Toronto came with strings attached to ensure that the school would "fit with the political views and sensitivities of Peter Munk." McQuaig writes that "according to Munk's written agreement with the university, the Munk donations will be paid over an extended time period, with much of the money to be paid years from now — and subject to the Munk family's approval of the school. For that matter, the school's director will be required to report annually to a board appointed by Munk 'to discuss the programs, activities and initiatives of the School in greater detail.'" University president David Naylor rejected personal attacks on donors as "a deplorable affront to the values of rational and respectful discourse that are supposed to characterize a university" and stated "I later served on the board of the University Health Network, in the years when Dr. Munk made two gifts exceeding $40 million to support the cardiovascular program at that hospital. There was not a single instance where Peter Munk interfered with the educational, research or clinical priorities of the institution."

Personal life

Munk is married to Melanie Jane Bosanquet Munk and has five adult children. His daughter Nina Munk is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair.

Honours

He has received several honorary degrees:

• Doctorate from Upsala College, New Jersey.
• Doctorate from Bishop's University, Quebec.
• Doctorate from Concordia University, Montreal.
• Doctorate from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
• Doctor of Laws from Trinity College, University of Toronto in 1995
• Doctor of Sacred Letters from Trinity College, University of Toronto in 2004, jointly with his wife Melanie Munk

He became Officer of The Order of Canada (Canada's highest civilian honour) in 1993 and was promoted to Companion in 2008; received The Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2002 (the first time awarded in Canada); has been inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.

Notes

External links

• Peter Munk
• Biography of Peter Munk
• Citation for Peter and Melanie Munk