Stephen Bronfman


Stephen Bronfman is a Canadian businessperson.

Early life

A member of the Bronfman family, a prominent Quebec family, he is the son of billionaire Charles Bronfman and grandson of Samuel Bronfman and Saidye Rosner Bronfman.
Bronfman completed his undergraduate studies at Williams College and returned to Montreal in 1986. He briefly worked in the marketing department of the Montreal Expos, then owned by his father. In 1990, he studied geology at Concordia University.
Also in 1991, he joined private equity firm Claridge, which was founded by his father in 1987.

Career

Bronfman took the head of the private equity firm Claridge and has served as its CEO since 1997. The firm has invested in artist tours by the Rolling Stones, Madonna, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Bronfman was responsible for increased investment positions in the high-end organic food and beverage industry, mainly through the creation of the Claridge Food Group. As the current Executive Chairman, he has overseen the firm's direct private equity portfolio invest, amongst others, in :
- Cirque du Soleil, CPI, Dick Clark Productions, TSN, Solotech, The Next Adventure, 49TH Parallel, Champlain Seafood, Circle Foods, NYSE, Tour Telus, Bassins dy Havre, Eagle Creek, Busbud, Cloudify, Facebook, Gigaspaces, Luxury Retreats.
In 1999, he was named a director of Seagram, his family's conglomerate.
In 2010, he unsuccessfully tried to buy the hockey team les Canadiens de Montréal.
Since the departure of the Expos, he has been involved in initiatives aiming to bring Major League Baseball back to Montreal.
Bronfman was named in the Paradise Papers in 2017.

Philanthropy

The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation was launched in 2009 and primarily provides support to a variety of causes in Montreal. The foundation succeeds to the Andrea & Charles Bronfman Philanthropies launched by Stephen Bronfman's father and stepmother’s, as their main charitable vehicle.

Political ties

Bronfman and his family came to prominence within Canada as key fundraisers for the Liberal Party of Canada.