John MacBain

Net Worth:
$1.39 billion
(▲1.5% from 2017)

Rich 100 rank: #84
Change in rank from 2017: ▼9
Major company holdings: McCall McBain Foundation
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Age: 58

After selling Trader Classified Media in 2006, John MacBain has been focused on philanthropic work, founding the Geneva-based McCall MacBain Foundation, which grants funding for efforts in education, health and the environment. It also boosted the coffers of the Rhodes Trust with a $118-million donation in 2013. (MacBain is a former Rhodes Scholar.) Those charitable efforts helped earn MacBain the Order of Canada in 2016. Ex-wife Louise Blouin, who ran the day-to-day at Trader and is now involved with the art world, earned some attention when she was named in the Panama Papers.

MacBain made his money one classified at a time, buying Quebec’s Auto Hebdo with Blouin in 1987 and then adding other listing hosts like Auto Trader.

Updated Thursday, November 9, 2017