Royal Wedding fever is gripping SmartCompany headquarters this morning… Okay, that may be a bit of an overstatement, but some wag has brought in a few packets of Chocolate Royal biscuits to help get us in the mood this afternoon.
One of the biggest areas of interest in relation to the wedding has of course been the guest list, which includes Australian Prime Minster Julia Gillard and swimmer Ian Thorpe, but is very, very short on wealthy entrepreneurial types.
Indeed, only one made the cut on the list rereleased by Clarence House last week – Canada’s second richest man Galen Weston and his wife Hillary.
Galen, who was valued at $7.1 billion by Forbes earlier this year, is an interesting figure.
If the Weston name is familiar to readers in Australia it is probably because of the humble Wagon Wheel biscuit – Galen Weston is the grandfather of George Weston, the founder of George Weston Foods. George Weston Foods made the Wagon Wheel until 2004, when they sold the brand in Australia.
Galen Weston remains the chairman of George Weston Foods, a $32 billion giant of the food sector which owns bakery options throughout North America (it makes all the cookies for the Girl Scouts in the US) and food distribution giant Loblaw.
He is best known in Britain as the owner of the upmarket department store Selfridges, which itself has a strong connection to the Royal Family. The chain has a “Royal Warrant” which means it is an official supplier of goods to the Royals – a nice bit of branding to have, especially at the moment!
Galen is known for his philanthropic interests and his particular love of art. He is a collector of works by the artist Christo (known for wrapping objects in plastic and other materials) and holds frequent exhibitions at a community he and his wife built in Florida.
Reports suggest Galen and Hillary (herself a well-known figure in Canada as a former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario) are close friends of Prince Charles, with Galen known to take to the polo field with the heir to the British throne.
All in all, Galen Weston seems like a fascinating figure – who will just happen to have one of the better seats in the house tonight.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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