47. David Sidoo

Chair, East West Petroleum

Age: 56 | 2012: #47Before he struck it rich in the oil business, David Sidoo was a football star at UBC. His love of the game—and of his alma mater—has been a constant through his career: as a CFL defensive back with Saskatchewan and the B.C. Lions, then as a partner at Yorkton Securities, and finally as an investment banker. His first big win, American Oil & Gas, made him wealthy when it was acquired by Hess.His success has allowed him to pursue philanthropy and return the support he received from coaches and friends when his sawmill-worker father died suddenly and he thought he’d have to drop out of university to help his family. His Sidoo Family Giving foundation funds everything from children’s breakfast programs to community scholarships.But the initiative closest to his heart is the football program at UBC, which was facing deep, perhaps mortal, cuts. Sidoo stepped up and put together a group of alumni to form the 13th Man Foundation. New corporate sponsorships, new facilities, a new coach, and new recruits have made the Thunderbirds a force once again. Which makes it only fitting that the turf at Thunderbird Stadium is now called David Sidoo Field.

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