David Gilmour (businessman)

David Gilmour is a Canadian businessman and investor. He is the founder of Fiji Water and owner of Wakaya Island in Fiji.[1][2][3][4] Gilmour founded Wakaya Perfection in 2016.

For other people named David Gilmour, see David Gilmour (disambiguation).

Biography

Early life

David Harrison Gilmour was born in Toronto in 1931.[1] At age 16, his father offered him the option between enough cash to start his own company, or a $10 stipend a day to go travelling in Europe on his own.[1] He chose to go travelling, and believes he learned how to become an entrepreneur by observing other people on his travels.[1]

Career

He created his first company, Dansk Design, an importer of Scandinavian furniture and giftware.[1][2] He then founded TrizecHahn, a real estate firm.[1][3] In 1958, he co-founded Clairtone, a stereo maker, with Peter Munk.[1] They then bought property in Fiji and started the hotel chain called the Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation.[1][3] Less than a decade later, they sold it for $128 million.[1] They then bought a $40 million gold mine in Northern Ontario, and co-founded Barrick Gold.[1][3] He also bought Zinio, now one of the world's largest electronic distributors of magazines, books, catalogs and apps.[1][2]

Fiji

He later bought Wakaya Island in Fiji.[1][2] In 1996, he co-founded Fiji Water with Peter Munk, after he found an aquifer in Yaqara Valley on Viti Levu.[1][2][4][5] It became the No. 1 brand of imported water, even before Evian.[1] In 2004, he sold it to Lynda Resnick for US$50 million.[1][6] He also founded Wakaya Club & Spa, a luxury resort on Wakaya Island.[2] Prince Felipe of Spain and his wife Letizia, Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch, George Lucas, Michelle Pfeiffer, David E. Kelley, Robert Zemeckis, Paris Hilton, and Tom Cruise have all stayed in the resort.[2][3] He has also built a village and a school for his Fiji workers.[2]

Personal life

His second wife, Jill, is a native of Auckland, New Zealand.[2] They live on Wakaya Island four months a year.[2] They also live in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.[3]

Gilmour and his first wife, Anna, had a daughter named Erin who was found stabbed to death in her Toronto apartment, aged 22, on December 20, 1983. The murder remains unsolved as of 2020.[3][7]

Bibliography
  • Start Up: The Life and Lessons of a Serial Entrepreneur (2011)

References
  1. Brian Deagon, 'Gilmour's Empire Started With Learning To Listen', Investor's Business Daily, 12/30/2011
  2. Mitchell Owens, 'A Fantasy Home on a Tropical Island', in Elle Decor Archived 2011-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 'A Private Beach, A Princely Bure, & You Beside Me', in Condé Nast Traveler, December 2010 Archived 2013-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 'The water man speaks', in the Fiji Times, August 07, 2008
  5. Robert Frank, 'Fiji Water Founder: Washington Is ‘Killing’ Entrepreneurs', in The Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2011
  6. 'Bye, Bye, Fiji: Water Bottler Moving Out?', on CBS, November 29, 2010
  7. "Two women linked by serial killer | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
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