Barry Sherman

For the American actor, see Barry Del Sherman. For the British politician, see Barry Sheerman.

Barry Sherman
CM
A clean-shaven older Caucasian man, his thin dark hair having receded to the middle of his head, looks at the camera through glasses with clear plastic rims; he is wearing a white shirt, grey patterned jacket and blue necktie.
Sherman in 2017
Born
Bernard Charles Sherman

(1942-02-25)February 25, 1942[1][2]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 13, 2017(2017-12-13) (aged 75)[3]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto (BASc)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
OccupationBusinessman
Known forPharmaceutical industry
TitleChairman and CEO of Apotex
Spouse
Honey Reich
​
(m. 1971)​
Children4
FamilyLouis Lloyd Winter (uncle)

Bernard Charles "Barry" Sherman, CM[4] (February 25, 1942 – December 13, 2017) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who was chairman and CEO of Apotex Inc. With an estimated net worth of US$3.2 billion at the time of his death, according to Forbes, Sherman was the 12th-wealthiest man in Canada.[5][6] Another publication, Canadian Business, stated his fortune at CA$4.77 billion, ranking him the 15th richest man in Canada.[6]

Sherman, a University of Toronto graduate with a doctorate in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, got his start in the pharmaceutical business in the 1960s, when the estate of his uncle Louis Lloyd Winter let him run Empire Laboratories, the late uncle's drug company. This eventually led Sherman to form Apotex, where he earned a reputation among both competitors and government regulators for extreme combativeness, often including litigation. Sherman's four cousins, who were supposed to have received five-percent stakes in Empire, later sued Sherman unsuccessfully over his sale of the company.

In 1971, Sherman married his wife Honey, who would later rise to prominence in Canadian philanthropy, serving on the boards of several prominent charities. The two were found dead in their home in late 2017. Initially investigators from the Toronto Police Service considered the deaths a murder-suicide, a conclusion widely disputed in the media.[7] In April 2019, the police said they had a "working theory" of the case and an "idea of what happened",[8] and as of May 2022 the investigation was "active and ongoing".[9]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference obit WSJ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Bernard Sherman Success Story". Success Story. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  3. ^ "Barry and Honey Sherman's neighbours cite mysterious 911 call, visitor on day before billionaires found dead | The Star". The Toronto Star. May 20, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  4. ^ "Bernard Charles Sherman: Executive Profile & Biography – Bloomberg". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  5. ^ Tindera, Michela (December 15, 2017). "Canadian Pharmaceuticals Billionaire And Wife Found Dead In Toronto Mansion". Forbes. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Apotex founder Barry Sherman and wife found dead in Toronto home". Financial Post. December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference donovanJan26 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Donovan042019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Court challenges to secrecy of Barry and Honey Sherman murder case and estate files delayed by pandemic". thestar.com. April 30, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.