SULTAN OF OTTAWA: Climate Carney's Brookfield millions revealed

A retired Canadian C-level executive, wishing to remain anonymous, has estimated Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney's wealth from his years with Brookfield Asset Management — which has ownership of coal infrastructure.

Carney has branded himself a political outsider despite also being former governor of the Bank of Canada and governor of the Bank of England. He worked extensively as an advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and has questioned aspects of capitalism.

"Carney holds deferred share rights (DSR) and stock options in Brookfield Asset Management. According to his SEDI filings, Carney first received grants for both DSRs and options on December 16, 2022 followed by further option grants on Feb. 16, 2023 and Feb. 16, 2024," the executive told the Western Standard.

"The DSR and option grants total 537,258 shares. Carney purchased a further 1,878 DSRs under an employee purchase plan for a total holding of 539,136 shares. There is no price provided for the 1,878 DSRs he purchased, so I assumed the closing price on the date of purchase."

"The weighted average exercise price on the aggregate DSRs and options is approximately $47.55 per share," said the executive.

"The number is approximate because the grants are recorded in $US and I’ve converted them to $CDN based on FX conversions on the day before the grants were made. Brookfield stock closed on Feb. 19, 2024 at $86.26 per share, so Carney’s holdings are in-the-money to the tune of $20,869,325."

While Carney worked at Brookfield — first as vice chair and head of ESG and impact fund investing starting in August 2020, and later as chair from August 2022 until January, 2025.

Initially, this was informal, starting in 2020 with guidance on Canada’s COVID-19 economic recovery, and it became formal in September 2024 when Trudeau named him chair of the Liberal Party’s Task Force on Economic Growth.

During this period, Brookfield pursued significant government-related opportunities.

Notably, in late September 2024 — just weeks after Carney’s formal Liberal appointment — Brookfield applied for $100 million from the Canada Growth Fund, a federal entity managing a $15-billion public investment pool.