Woodbridge

Woodbridge is a professionally managed private company whose equity is owned by members of successive generations of the family of Roy H. Thomson, the first Lord Thomson of Fleet. As of 2025, it invested on behalf of seven families descended from Roy Thomson.⁠[1][1][2]

Since 1980, Woodbridge has held an indirect interest, through Thomson businesses, in the Canadian national newspaper The Globe and Mail.⁠[3]

In 1989, Woodbridge first committed to reinvest at least 50% of the dividends it and its subsidiaries received from The Thomson Corporation in newly issued shares under the dividend reinvestment plan; the commitment was subsequently extended several times, and on May 1, 2002, it was extended to June 30, 2005.⁠[4][4]

On September 15, 2000, BCE, Thomson, and Woodbridge announced the creation of a new company that would own The Globe and Mail, CTV, and Sympatico-Lycos, which became Bell Globemedia, formed in January 2001. At its formation, BCE held 70%, The Thomson Corporation held 20%, and Woodbridge held the remaining 10%.⁠[5][5][4]

In June 2002, The Thomson Corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange and offered 32,051,284 common shares, of which Woodbridge, as principal shareholder, sold 17,435,899, with the proceeds going to Woodbridge. After the offering, Woodbridge beneficially owned 414,679,889 shares, or approximately 64.1%.⁠[6][6][6]

In 2003, The Thomson Corporation sold its 20% interest in Bell Globemedia (including its interest in The Globe and Mail) to Woodbridge for $279 million.⁠[7]

On December 2, 2005, BCE announced that it would sell the bulk of its interest in Bell Globemedia to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Woodbridge, retaining 20% itself.⁠[5]

During his lifetime, Kenneth R. Thomson controlled Woodbridge and the Thomson company by holding shares of Thomson Investments Limited, a holding company of Woodbridge. After his death in 2006, under his estate arrangements, those holding company shares are held by a trust called the 2003 TIL Settlement, whose trustee is the trust company subsidiary of a Canadian chartered bank and whose beneficiaries are members of the family of the first Lord Thomson of Fleet. The arrangements are intended to provide long-term stability for Woodbridge’s business: Woodbridge’s directors and officers are responsible for its business and operations, but trustee approval is required in limited circumstances, such as very substantial dispositions of Thomson Reuters shares.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

Since at least 2010, David Thomson and his brother Peter Thomson have been co-chairmen of Woodbridge, and they still held those positions as of March 2026.⁠[3][1]

In 2008, The Thomson Corporation and Reuters Group PLC combined to form Thomson Reuters, and Geoff Beattie, then president of Woodbridge, was a key player in engineering the deal. Beattie had been deputy chairman of Thomson since 1998 while also serving as president of Woodbridge.⁠[8][4]

On September 10, 2010, BCE agreed to acquire full ownership of CTV for $1.3 billion (as given in the source, without specifying the currency); the same day, Woodbridge announced that it would sell its 40% interest in CTVglobemedia to BCE and instead directly own 85% of The Globe and Mail, with BCE retaining 15%. At the time, The Globe and Mail had a circulation of about 300,000 and about 750 employees.⁠[5][3][3][3]

In November 2012, David Binet, who had joined Woodbridge in 1999 and was previously a partner at Torys LLP, became president, succeeding Geoff Beattie, who had served for 15 years; Beattie stayed on as deputy chairman of Thomson Reuters. At the time, Woodbridge managed most of the Thomson family’s fortune of more than $20 billion (as given in the source, without specifying the currency), including controlling stakes in Thomson Reuters and The Globe and Mail and a large equity position in BCE.⁠[8][8][8][8]

On August 14, 2015, BCE sold its 15% equity position in The Globe and Mail Inc. to Woodbridge on undisclosed terms, giving Woodbridge full ownership of the newspaper. David Binet, then president and chief executive officer of Woodbridge, said the move reconfirmed Woodbridge’s commitment to the role the newspaper plays in Canada.⁠[9][9][10][10]

On September 19, 2024, Woodbridge announced the appointment of Jay Forbes, who had led a number of Canadian companies in technology, telecommunications, and finance, as President and CEO, effective September 23.⁠[11][11]

Jay Forbes left in September 2025 after a one-year term, and Iain Scott, former CEO of McCarthy Tétrault, became interim CEO. On November 12, 2025, Woodbridge announced that it had hired Michael Medline, former CEO of Empire Co. Ltd. (parent company of Sobeys), as president and chief executive officer, starting January 5, 2026; as of October 2026, Medline held the position.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][12]

Woodbridge’s primary investment is its holding of Thomson Reuters shares. As of March 12, 2026, Woodbridge and its affiliates beneficially owned 313,118,088 Thomson Reuters common shares, or approximately 70%; ahead of the shareholder vote that year on Thomson Reuters’ return of capital and share consolidation plan, Woodbridge said it would vote in favor. As of August 4, 2026, its stake was approximately 71%.⁠[1][13][13][14]

As controlling shareholder, Woodbridge focuses on Thomson Reuters’ corporate governance and board effectiveness, the appointment and succession of the chief executive officer and senior management, long-term business strategy, and capital strategy. It holds common shares with one vote per share and no super-voting rights; as of March 2026, its representatives made up about 29% of the Thomson Reuters board, less than its ownership percentage.⁠[1][1][1][1][1]

Under the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles Support Agreement, Woodbridge has agreed to support the Reuters Trust Principles and to exercise its voting rights accordingly; for so long as Woodbridge is controlled by members of the Thomson family, companies controlled by them, and trusts for their benefit, the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company designates it as an “approved person.”⁠[1][1]