Rogers 2008 Annual Report Download - page 6

2 ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 2008 ANNUAL REPORT
Then, he and Loretta donated $25 million
to the University of Toronto (the school’s
largest-ever personal donation), and
$10 million more to Ryerson University. In
2007, Ryerson received another $15 million
from the Rogers and today its business
school bears Ted Rogers’ name.
Over the years, Ted and Loretta also
donated tens of millions of dollars to chari-
ties such as the Toronto General Hospital,
Toronto Western Hospital, Sunnybrook
Health Sciences Centre, Woodstock
General Hospital, Sheena’s Place and the
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota,
where he had had heart surgery.
In October 2008, Mr. Rogers’ autobiogra-
phy entitled Relentless: The True Story of
the Man Behind Rogers Communications
was published by HarperCollins. It quickly
became a best-seller. True to form, the
book is a candid account from a legendary
entrepreneur who talks about his successes
and his failures, and takes the reader
beyond the brand and inside the man.
Ted Rogers leaves his wife, Loretta; four
children: Lisa, Edward (Suzanne), Melinda
(Eric) and Martha; and four grandchildren:
Chloé, Edward, Jack and Zachary. Edward
and Melinda have followed their father
in the family business with each holding
senior roles at Rogers. Edward is president
of the cable business and Melinda oversees
strategy and development; and, together
with Loretta and Martha, they serve as
directors on the Rogers Communications
board.
Few Canadian businessmen have left a greater
legacy. Today, Rogers Communications
employs 29,000 Canadians, has annual
revenue of more than $11 billion and the
value of the company’s stock exceeds
$20 billion. Ted Rogers leaves behind not
just an unrivalled legacy, but an industrial
strength company that proudly bears
his name and carries on his life’s labour
and passions.
He claimed it was in his genes. His father,
Edward Rogers Sr., once hailed as a “boy
genius” in newspapers around the world,
invented the electrical plug-in radio and
worked on other communications devices
that are now part of our daily lives, from
television to radar.
At his father’s untimely death in 1939 at
the age of 38, when Ted Jr. was only five
years old, the fledgling Rogers empire was
sold. Ted would often say that he spent his
life working to rebuild what he thought
had been wrongfully taken away.
Through all the successes of his life,
Mr. Rogers retained an enigmatic streak.
He could be charming to a fault or unleash
a well-known temper. His work ethic was
legendary and he thrived on conflict. He
expected his management team to work
just like he did. His personality and work
ethic instilled tremendous loyalty.
Many of his ideas came from listening to
those around him. He was unfailingly
curious about what others were thinking,
tapping into the expertise of engineers,
getting the front-line perspective of
customer service representatives and
speaking with customers he met on
the street.
In 1990, Mr. Rogers was made an Officer
of The Order of Canada and in 1994 was
inducted into the Canadian Business Hall
of Fame. In 2002, Mr. Rogers was the first
Canadian inducted into the Cable Hall
of Fame in Denver. Also in 2002, he and
wife Loretta were named Outstanding
Philanthropists of the Year by the
Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Over the years, he was awarded eight
honorary doctorates from North American
universities.
Toronto Life magazine named Ted Rogers
“Man of the Year” in 2000. In only a mat-
ter of months, he had stepped up to the
plate and saved the city’s beleaguered major
league baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
In December 2008, our company’s founder,
president and CEO passed away at the age
of 75.
Ted Rogers was a Canadian icon. In the
days following his death, he was memori-
alized by many as the greatest Canadian
entrepreneur of the 20th century.
A visionary communications industry
pioneer, Mr. Rogers was known for his
relentless drive – ever pursuing the next
big deal or the next technological innova-
tion he could bring to market. There were
many, including FM radio in the 1960’s and
crystal-clear cable TV reception in the 1970’s,
to cellular phones in the 1980’s to today’s
high-speed Internet to the home and wire-
less e-mail, web browsing and video.
Ted Rogers had the uncanny ability to
spot the next communications trend,
get out in front of it and position Rogers
as the segment leader. He built Rogers
Communications into the country’s largest
wireless company and largest cable services
provider, with significant media proper-
ties including 52 radio stations, numerous
television properties including five Citytv
stations, five OMNI multicultural chan-
nels, Rogers Sportsnet and The Shopping
Channel, 70 consumer and trade maga-
zines, the Toronto Blue Jays and the
Rogers Centre.
A graduate of the University of Toronto
and Osgoode Hall Law School, Mr. Rogers
was a lawyer by training, but an entre-
preneur by nature. Even at the end, his
business card read: “Ted Rogers, Senior
Salesp erson”.
His reputation as an innovator and risk
taker was earned early in his career when,
while still in law school, he purchased
Toronto FM-radio station CHFI in 1960
when only 5% of the city’s households
even had FM receivers.
Edward “Ted” S. Rogers
May 27, 1933 – December 2, 2008
IN TRIBUTE