Bernard Arnault

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Lore & Background

Munk was born in Budapest into a prosperous Hungarian-Jewish family. His grandfather, Gábor Munk, had become wealthy via Austro-Hungarian distribution rights for the Viennese chocolate brand Manner, and during World War II used his fortune to buy safe passage to Switzerland for his family. Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany in March 1944, when Munk was 16; along with 14 family members, he escaped on the Kastner train, which carried 1,684 Jews to safety in Switzerland. His mother was deported to Auschwitz in 1944; she survived but later died by suicide. Munk arrived in Canada in 1948, graduating from the University of Toronto in 1952 with a degree in electrical engineering. Decades later, he praised Canada: 'I arrived in this place not speaking the language, not knowing a dog... This is a country that does not ask about your origins; it only concerns itself with your destiny.'

In 1958, with $2,800 from his father-in-law, he co-founded Clairtone, which manufactured high-end console stereos. The celebrated 'Project G' series, introduced in 1964, featured sleek rosewood cabinets with cantilevered black aluminum 'sound globes' (speakers). It was seen in the films Marriage on the Rocks and The Graduate, awarded a silver medal at the Milan Triennial, and endorsed by Frank Sinatra and Oscar Peterson. Clairtone's downfall began with 'an ill-advised plan to build a plant in Nova Scotia.' In 1967, the Government of Nova Scotia took over Clairtone and fired Munk. He faced accusations of insider trading 'that were eventually settled out of court.'

Reader's Guide

After Clairtone's collapse, Munk and his partner invested in ocean-front land in Fiji, developing it into a hotel and resort. This grew into the Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation, which at its peak consisted of 54 resorts in Australia and the South Pacific. In 1978, the firm signed a deal with the President of Egypt to build a resort near the Great Pyramids; when Anwar Sadat cancelled the project, Munk sued and won the arbitration case at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. In 1979, Munk returned to Canada to start Barrick, which he built into the world's largest gold company. At the time, bankers viewed him as 'a fugitive and a loser,' according to Munk. He was also founder, chairman, and CEO of Trizec Properties, one of the largest American real estate investment trusts, sold in 2006 to Brookfield Properties for approximately $9 billion. In 2007, Munk invested in Porto Montenegro, turning a former naval base into a superyacht destination; in 2016 he sold the marina and hotel to Investment Corporation of Dubai for about 200 million euros. In 1980, Munk created Barrick Petroleum, but after acquiring Camflo Mines, Barrick left the oil sector and became a mining company. In 2008, as chair of Barrick Gold, he intervened at the shareholder meeting to block a proxy shareholder from Papua New Guinea from speaking about reports of deadly violence and sexual violence by Barrick's security contractors at Porgera Gold Mine. By 2016, Barrick had proven and probable reserves of two billion tons (1.33 grams of gold per tonne of ore). Munk retired from day-to-day management but remained founder and President Emeritus, saying: 'Barrick is my legacy.'

Did You Know?

• Munk escaped Nazi-occupied Hungary on the Kastner train, which carried 1,684 Jews to safety in Switzerland.
• His grandfather Gábor Munk became wealthy via distribution rights for the Viennese chocolate brand Manner.
• Clairtone's 'Project G' stereo was seen in the films Marriage on the Rocks and The Graduate, and endorsed by Frank Sinatra and Oscar Peterson.
• Munk sued the Egyptian government after Anwar Sadat cancelled a resort project near the Great Pyramids and won the arbitration case.
• In 2008, Munk blocked a shareholder from Papua New Guinea from speaking at Barrick's meeting about violence at the Porgera Gold Mine.