#582

Stephen Smith

Canada 75 years old Self-Made

Overview

Source of Wealth
Finance and investments
Residence
Toronto
Education
Queens University (Bachelor of Science in Engineering)
Marital Status
Married
Children
3

Assets

  • Equitable Group
    7,254,000 shares @ -
    -
    EQB-CA

Biography

Stephen Smith is a Canadian financial services magnate.

Smith cofounded mortgage lender First National Financial in 1988, just four years after being personally bankrupt.

He also owns about half of Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company and a stake in publicly traded Canadian bank EQB.

He acquired lender Home Trust for more than $1.2 billion in 2023 and merged it with Fairstone Bank of Canada in early 2025.

Smith has donated more than $100 million to Queen's University, where the business school is named after him.

About

Smith has passed his love of heli-skiing onto his three adult children.

An electrical engineer by education, Smith programmed code that is still used today by First National's mortgage approval and tracking system, Merlin.