We wanted to know exactly what it's like to sit in the cockpit of a big-business enterprise. So we asked four corporate chieftains to clear out while we photographed their desks and surrounding digs as is. They all agreed to the rules of engagement--although it appears that Gerald Schwartz and Richard Peddie couldn't resist straightening and polishing. Looking at the results on the following pages, you realize that everyone's workaday home is a mix of the serious and the whimsical, the elegant and the utilitarian.ient rs that Gerald Schwartz and Richard Peddie couldn't resist straightening and polishing. Looking at the results on the following pages, you realize that everyone's workaday home is a mix of the serious and the whimsical, the elegant and the utilitarian.
Schwartz
Gerald Schwartz Chairman, President and CEO Onex Corp., Toronto
Pattison
Jim Pattison Chairman The Jim Pattison Group, Vancouver
Peddie
Richard Peddie President and CEO Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. Toronto
Asper
Leonard Asper President and CEO CanWest Global Communications Corp. Winnipeg
Schwartz
A more whimsical corner. A round 18th-century banker's table. On top, a Hagar the Horrible cartoon. Schwartz says the photo of Einstein laughing reminds him that "a little humour will go a long way."
Shelves are filled with the trophies of dealmaking: so-called tombstone ads in Lucite slabs, each commemorating a completed Onex transaction. Toy trucks, a wine bottle and other trinkets represent various businesses Onex owns.
Plastic block bears a floor-tile fragment from Masada, the ancient Jewish fortress, and an egg-sized stone from Dachau, the Nazi concentration camp. "Never again" is engraved on the block. Words "worth remembering," says Schwartz.
Pattison
Pattison played trumpet with a Kitsilano, B.C., boys band and the Vancouver Symphony as a youth. Crystal version was presented to him by his Westshore Terminals Ltd. in 1997. He has another one in his house in Palm Springs, Calif., which was formerly owned by Frank Sinatra. Limited-edition reproduction of a painting of the Royal Hudson under Lions Gate Bridge. Adjoining wall (not shown) has more personal memorabilia, including Pattison's Order of Canada ribbon. Office faces northeast, toward Coal Harbour and Stanley Park. Pattison moved into 16th floor of the Guinness Towers in 1969. He bought the radio in 1970 to keep up with news. "This was before the Internet," says Maureen Chant, Pattison's assistant. "You have to put it on the windowsill to get a signal."
Pattison often works on several deals at once, which generates a lot of paper. "If I want him to pay attention to something, I put it on his chair," says Chant.
Peddie
Handful of sports books (except for a Dilbert volume) breaks up corporate logoed memento collection marking career milestones in pro sports management with Blue Jays, Leafs and Raptors.
Peddie opts to turn his back to the vista of Gardiner Expressway and train tracks from sixth-floor window behind his desk for the excitement of the corridor. Hey, wait a minute. Is that Mats Sundin? Vince Carter? Speed-dial includes A-list of top sports execs in Canada and the U.S. (also includes National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman's number). Plaque with "vision and values" to be kept on every MLSE employee's desk. No plans to place plaques on Raptors' and Leafs' benches. Eskimo carving, the obligatory Canadian honorarium, received for speaking engagements. Savings from using MLSE's corporate giveaways for pens and pencils could be put toward buying a power forward for either hockey or basketball team.
Asper
Daughter may be destined to follow her father and grandfather into TV.
Southeast view takes in CanWest Global Park, home of the Winnipeg Goldeyes ball team, and the Provencher Bridge across the Red River to St. Boniface.
Non-smoker Leonard, 36, is still learning the ropes. The ashtray is ready when Dad drops in.
Remote used only to turn TV on and off; it's typically locked all day on ROB-TV, 50% owned by CanWest Global.
Sometimes, even in the e-world of the Internet and computers, an old-fashioned spike works better than the delete button.