Brian Kingston

Brookfield Corporation is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies.¹

About

Brookfield Corporation is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies. It has over US$1 trillion of assets under management, much of which is workers’ deferred income from global public pension funds.

It focuses on direct control investments in real estate, renewable power, infrastructure, credit and private equity. The company invests in distressed securities through Oaktree Capital, which it bought in 2019. Brookfield Corporation's headquarters are in Toronto, while its primary subsidiary, Brookfield Asset Management, relocated to New York City in 2024.

The current Brookfield Corporation is the creation of the 1997 merger of Edper and Brascan. At its inception, the company was known as EdperBrascan, then changed its name to Brascan in 2000, and Brookfield Asset Management in 2005. In December 2022, the company renamed itself Brookfield Corporation (traded as BN) and spun off its asset management business as Brookfield Asset Management (traded as BAM).

In June 2024, Brookfield Asset Management ranked 24th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking among the world's largest private equity firms.

From Wikipedia’s article on Brian Kingston, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Brookfield Property PartnersChief executive officer¹¹

Early life and education

Date not recordedQueen's University Bachelor of Commerce^{3 4}

Career

Occupation: businessperson.^{7 8}

Date not recordedChief executive officer, Brookfield Property Partners^{5 6}
Date not recordedWorked at Brookfield Corporation⁵

Brascan

The company was founded in 1899 as the São Paulo Tramway, Light and Power Company by William Mackenzie and Frederick Stark Pearson. It operated in the construction and management of electricity and transport infrastructure in Brazil.

In 1904, the Rio de Janeiro Tramway, Light and Power Company was founded by Mackenzie's group.

In 1912, Brazilian Traction, Light and Power Company was incorporated in Toronto as a public company to develop hydro-electric power operations and other utility services in Brazil, becoming a holding company for São Paulo Tramway Co. and Rio de Janeiro Tramway Co. In 1916, Great Lakes Power Company was incorporated to provide hydro-electric power in Sault Ste. Marie and the Algoma District in Ontario.

In 1966, Brazilian Traction, Light and Power Company changed its name to Brazilian Light and Power Company, and again in 1969, changed its name to Brascan Limited. Brascan is a portmanteau of “Brasil” and “Canada”.

During the 1970s, the company began to sell its Brazilian interests, and invested more heavily in industries such as real estate, timber and mining.

In 1979, the last of the company's Brazilian assets were transferred to Brazilian ownership (Eletropaulo and Light S.A.), the company meanwhile having diversified to other areas. The company provided electricity and tram services in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After restructuring, the company's Brazilian portfolio operated as Light S.A., short for Brazilian Traction, Light and Power Co. Ltd.

In 1992, Brookfield and Johnson Controls was established through a merger in Canada of Brookfield and Johnson Controls—a building systems and facility management company that was founded in the late 19th century by Warren S. Johnson, whose invention of the first electric room thermostat helped launch the building control industry. By 2012, Brookfield and Johnson Controls became an established industry leader with 11,500 locations across Canada. In 2007, Brookfield Asset Management acquired the Multiplex, an Australian international construction contracting company founded in 1962 by John Roberts. which was valued at that time at approximately A$7.3 billion. It was renamed Brookfield Multiplex in 2016. In 2012 Brookfield Asset Management and Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) merged to create Brookfield Johnson Controls.

Edper Investments

In 1959, Edper Investments was founded by brothers Peter and Edward Bronfman.

Chief Executive Officer

Jack Lynn Cockwell, 1 August 1997 – February 2002

James Bruce Flatt, February 2002 – present

From Wikipedia’s article on Brian Kingston (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Legal issues and controversies

Controversies

Bribery

In 2013, a Brazilian prosecutor filed charges against the company's local division, alleging the company paid bribes to local officials, which is also a violation of U.S. federal criminal law. The bribes were allegedly used to pave the way for Brookfield to build a shopping center in São Paulo. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also opened a formal investigation into the company about the bribery charges. The company denied the charges. The U.S. Department of Justice also opened a criminal investigation into the company regarding these allegations, and did not end up making any arrests. According to the Stanford Law School Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Clearinghouse, which studied the case, the investigation and filing of charges was initiated by a whistleblower and anonymous tip. Later it was revealed that the whistleblower was the former CFO of a Brookfield subsidiary. She claims she was fired for refusing to participate in Brookfield's bribery scheme. The company disclosed the investigations on several 6-K forms between 2013 and 2015.

Circular cash flows

A March 2024 article in the Financial Times criticized Brookfield for its complex structure and its circular flows of cash after buying and selling multiple properties to itself at high, pre-pandemic valuations. These transactions were said to mask a $2 billion loss in its commercial real estate portfolio while boosting Brookfield's “distributable earnings,” a metric that the Financial Times called non-standard. Brookfield replied that there is nothing deceptive in its financial reporting and that the newspaper “willfully mischaracterized” its business.

Civil lawsuits and public reactions

In September 2010, a group called Birch Mountain Shareholders for Justice filed a lawsuit with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Brookfield Asset Management, challenging an acquisition and transfer of assets. Birch Mountain had run into financial troubles and accused Brookfield of financial engineering that resulted in Brookfield acquiring the company's $1.6 billion limestone quarry for $50 million. According to Birch Mountain, Brookfield had made use of death spiral financing and insider trading. After five years of litigation the case was dismissed, based on the fact that Birch Mountain had failed to present credible evidence. In May 2015, the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal, but their case was likewise dismissed two years later.

In 2009, Brookfield sued financial and insurance giant American International Group (AIG) in a Manhattan federal court, alleging that AIG's collapse caused default provisions in interest-rate swaps. The suit stemmed from AIG's acceptance of a $182.3 billion bailout package from the federal government, which Brookfield argued overturned AIG's bankruptcy protection. The insurance firm countersued, claiming that Brookfield was trying to get out of its $1.5 billion debt to AIG. The litigation ended with Brookfield paying $905 million to settle the lawsuit.

In March 2013, the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation called into question Brookfield's makeup. The analysis written by Roddy Boyd accused the company of using a pyramidal control structure, alleging that a small group of shareholders hold outsized power and may easily use the capital of other investors without risking their own.

In August 2018, Brookfield signed a 99-year lease on the financially troubled 666 Fifth Avenue (later renamed 660 Fifth Avenue) skyscraper in New York City, of Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The deal raised suspicions that the Qatar Investment Authority, a major investor in Brookfield, was attempting to influence the first Trump administration.