Clive Beddoe
Clive Beddoe (May 26, 1946-) is a founding shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of WestJet Airlines.
Beddoe was born in Dorking, England,[1] grew up in Leatherhead, England and immigrated to Canada in 1970.
As a pilot himself, it was his interest in aircraft that helped form WestJet. Clive first started flying gliders at Epsom College in England during his teenage years. While talking to a friend one day, he decided to move to Canada on a whim to start a job at a real estate development company, further on creating his own commercial development company called Hanover Management, a named based on Hanover Square, London a location where he once worked. He also owns Western Concord Manufacturing a plastic manufacturing company based out of Delta, British Columbia.
In 2000, WestJet's founders, Clive Beddoe, Mark Hill, Tim Morgan and Donald Bell were honored as 'The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year' for Canada and was honored at the international Entrepreneur of the year awards in Monaco.
Clive has earned honorary degrees from the University of Calgary and the Wilfrid Laurier University.
On Tuesday, July 24, 2007, Beddoe announced that effective September 4, 2007, he would relinquish his duties as chief executive officer, passing the torch to then-president Sean Durfy. In April 2010 Gregg Saretsky replaced Sean Durfy as President and Chief Executive Officer. Clive remains Chairman of the board.
He is currently on the board for AIMCO, and head of their compensation committee.
In his personal time he is an avid sailor and participated in the 2006 ARC, racing across the Atlantic.
Clive Beddoe was inducted to the Order of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2012