Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers Jr., OC was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., and the fifth-richest person in Canada in terms of net worth.
Early life and career
Born in Toronto, Ontario, Rogers was educated at Upper Canada College. He subsequently attended Trinity College in the University of Toronto, graduating in 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. When he was an undergraduate student, Rogers joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. In 1979, he was named a Significant Sig by the fraternity – the 21st Canadian to be inducted. In 1960, while still a student at Osgoode Hall Law School, he bought all the shares in local radio station CHFI, which pioneered the use of FM at a time when only 5% of the Toronto households had FM receivers. By 1965, he was in the cable TV business. Rogers Communications was established in 1967 and has grown into one of Canada's largest media conglomerates. His father, Edward S. Rogers Sr., is regarded as the founder of the company, although the radio station that he founded, CFRB, is now owned by another Canadian company and competitor, Bell Media. Rogers had been the owner of the Toronto Blue JaysMajor League Baseball team since September 1, 2000, when Rogers Communications Inc. purchased 80% of the baseball club, with the Labatt Brewing Company maintaining a 20% interest and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce relinquishing its 10% share. He purchased the remaining 20% share from Labatt in 2003, and owned the team in full until his death. Moreover, the Blue Jays' home ballpark, SkyDome, was renamed Rogers Centre in 2005 after Rogers' firm purchased the stadium.
In 2000, Rogers and his wife Loretta gave $26.8 million to the University of Toronto. The landmark contribution was directed to the University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, which named the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in honour of his father. The Rogers' gift allowed the faculty to establish the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate Scholarships, the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Undergraduate Scholarships, the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Chair in Engineering, the Velma M. Rogers Graham Chair in Engineering, the Rogers AT&T Wireless Communications Laboratories and the Rogers Scholarship Program. On May 29, 2007, Rogers and his wife made a gift of $15 million to Ryerson University. The donation was directed towards the Faculty of Business, which was renamed the Ted Rogers School of Management at the donors' request. The majority of the gift will be used to establish 52 new undergraduate and graduate student awards and scholarships. The gift also aims to establish a new research chair to seed academic initiatives in management research.
Death and commemoration
Rogers suffered from congestive heart failure and died early on the morning of December 2, 2008, aged 75, at his home in Toronto. He was buried in the family plot at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto. His autobiography, penned with communications consultant and former business journalist Robert Brehl, was titled Relentless: The True Story of the Man Behind Rogers Communications and was released just 10 weeks before Rogers' death. On December 2, 2009, the first anniversary of his death, a northern section of Jarvis Street in Toronto which runs beside the Rogers Building was renamed Ted Rogers Way in his honour. From March 4 to 6, 2010, the first annual Ted Rogers Memorial Conference hosted by Ryerson University, the Ted Rogers School of Management, and the Ryerson Commerce Society took place to honour Rogers, inviting Canadian university students to learn more about the values and skills that Rogers possessed. The theme of the conference revolved around the acronym TED: Take risks. Embrace innovation. Defy the status quo.
