Stephen Jarislowsky dies at 101

Billionaire investor Stephen Jarislowsky, a champion of corporate governance and former spy, has died at the age of 101.

Mr. Jarislowsky co-founded what became of one of the country’s largest asset management firms, Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd., after moving to Montreal in the 1950s.

Mr. Jarislowsky made his name as a pioneer advocate for shareholder rights, engaging in public battles with CEOs, family businesses and boards of directors.

He fought against deals put forward by Canadian corporate titans, including the Billes family behind Canadian Tire, Montreal’s powerful Bronfman clan, the corporate raider Conrad Black and auto parts magnate Frank Stronach.

Mr. Jarislowsky frequently and successfully pushed foreign companies attempting takeovers in Canada to improve their offers, with the quiet support of his money management peers.

In 2002, Mr. Jarislowsky co-founded the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, an influential lobby group.

Mr. Jarislowsky was born in Berlin in 1925. His father was an industrialist and a merchant banker, his mother, a lawyer and both were Jewish. When Mr. Jarislowsky was four, his father died from scarlet fever, and he and his siblings were sent to live near relatives in Amsterdam, then moved to Paris.

In 1941, the family left France for the United States. After he graduated from Cornell University with a mechanical engineering degree, Mr. Jarislowsky was drafted into the U.S. Army, and served as an intelligence officer in Asia.

After the Second World War, Mr. Jarislowsky went to Harvard Business School. He then took a job at Alcan Aluminum Ltd. and moved to Montreal. In the 1950s, he teamed up with stockbroker Scott Fraser to launch a company that provided corporate data to investors. The service became money manager Jarislowsky Fraser.

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired Jarislowsky Fraser in 2018 for $950-million.