THOMSON MOVES FAST
His radio-newspaper holdings stretch from Timmins to Jamaica ... and if he knew Attlee better he'd probably try to buy the BBC
August 1 1946
BRUCE McLEOD
THOMSON MOVES FAST
BRUCE McLEOD
WHEN it comes to pulling rabbits out of a silk hat, Blackstone may be quite a guy. But that’s just kid stuff for 51-year-old Roy Herbert Thomson, a fast-talking Torontonian who traded mumbo jumbo for supersalesmanship, a magic wand for a fountain pen and proceeded to pull hundreds of thousands of dollars literally out of thin air.
Until a few years ago, when he streamlined his five-feet ten from a lumpy 250 pounds to a cosy 185, this magician of big business deals was built somewhat along the lines of a Bartlett pear. In those days, as he squinted with nearsighted eyes from behind thick lenses or tugged with nervous fingers at a tight collar, Thomson looked no more impressive than the average businessman who hopes his customers will outnumber his creditors. Nobody, except maybe Thomson himself, would have bet that within a decade he would become a big voice in the Canadian radio and newspaper scene.