Sir Herbert Holt

Class of 1980

Sir Herbert Holt was a rugged individualist whose pioneering was in overcoming geographic barriers and in creating vast wealth-producing enterprises. Initially a railroad engineer, he built most of the C.P.R. links through the Rockies.

From his start as a young Irish immigrant in 1875, he went on to rank with the shrewdest and wealthiest of our financiers and industrial builders. Experience gained in spartan construction camps helped him develop an industrial empire. His entrepreneurial holdings spanned 300 companies over four continents which largely controlled $3 billion in corporate assets.

Sir Herbert was President of the Royal Bank of Canada for three decades.