A “Dragon” on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, Wes Hall is one of the most influential businesspeople in Canada. The chairman and founder of WeShall Investments, a private equity firm with a diverse portfolio of companies predominantly supporting BIPOC entrepreneurs, Hall has orchestrated multi-billion-dollar deals for Canada’s corporate elite while breaking down barriers for the next generation of Black leaders. He channels his drive, passion, and commitment into his keynotes, offering audiences actionable business strategies while empowering them to enact real change.
Named one of Maclean’s magazine’s 2021 “50 most powerful people in Canada”, Hall comes from humble beginnings in rural Jamaica. He grew up in a plantation worker’s shack as one of several children supported by his grandmother, whom he credits for instilling in him the value of hard work, ambition, and industriousness. Hall immigrated to Canada as a teenager where he worked a string of jobs to put himself through university and find his way to Bay Street.
Hall’s curiosity, intelligence, and ability to spot opportunities allowed him to turn a $100K loan from the bank into his first business, Kingsdale Advisors, which became one of Canada’s most preeminent shareholder advisory firms. Hall was invaluable on the complicated dispute between Toronto-based Goldcorp and Nevada-based Glamis Gold from 2004 to 2006, Xstrata PLC’s $18-billion takeover of Falconbridge in 2006, and the $19-billion merger between Suncor and Petro-Canada in 2009.
A staunch philanthropist, Hall is deeply committed to community upliftment. He founded the ambitious and highly successful BlackNorth Initiative to help end systemic anti-Black racism in Canada. He also taught Black Entrepreneurship and Leadership at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, a first-of-its-kind course in North America. He currently serves as the vice-chair of the Board of Governors at Huron University College, a member of the Capital Markets Modernization Task Force, and a member of the board of directors for SickKids Foundation and Pathways to Education Canada.
In 2024, Hall was appointed the 35th Chancellor of the University of Toronto. The same year, he was bestowed with the Knighthood of The Royal Order of Constantine the Great and Saint Helen for his outstanding contributions to business, philanthropy, and community development. The Globe and Mail also recognized him as one of Bay Street’s top 40 most influential figures of the past four decades and received the Nation Builder Award from the Empire Club. He has also been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and was named the Canadian Business Leader of 2022 by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Hall is also the recipient of six Honorary Doctorates and, in 2022, was honoured with the Medal of Distinction from Huron University.
Hall’s other accomplishments include penning a bestselling memoir, No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot, which was a finalist for the 2023 National Business Book Awards. He is also the host of the podcast, Between Us with Wes Hall, in partnership with the Toronto Star, and a frequent guest on BNN Bloomberg.
