Larson's role in the Gates Foundation is less active. Last Friday, the firm surfaced as a partner in an electric power venture in New Mexico worth at least $700-million. It was the second major move in the past few days for Cascade. Larson was not available for comment and Four Seasons had little to say about Cascade other than to note that it first proposed the takeover back in June. But yesterday, Four Seasons announced Cascade and Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal are part of a group that has launched a takeover bid that values the company at $3.4-billion (U.S.). has been among Cascade's smaller holdings, accounting for just 620,450 shares, or barely 2 per cent of the firm.
and Mexican broadcasterįour Seasons Hotels Inc. Cascade is also the second-largest shareholder in Pan American Silver and holds large stakes in The largest is almost 31 million shares inĬanadian National Railway Co., or roughly 6 per cent of the company, worth about $1.7-billion (Canadian).
Larson is left to manage the portfolios largely as he sees fit.Īccording to recent securities filings, Cascade has only a handful of substantial holdings. Larson flew to Seattle to take the reins of BGI. But before he could get properly started, he received a phone call from a headhunter searching for an investment professional on behalf of Mr. Larson left Putnam after two years to form his own firm. After graduating, he moved into the investment world and landed a job with Putnam Investments in Boston, according to the profile in Fortune. He earned a degree in economics from Claremont McKenna College in California and an MBA from the University of Chicago, all by age 21. If he has something to say he says it, doesn't matter whether he thinks it's going to be well received." Pan American Silver Corp., which includes Mr. Low-key, smart, very discreet," said Ross Beaty, chairman of Vancouver-based
Larson is so low-key his business cards contain no company name and he rarely mentions his boss while talking to Wall Street investment types. According to the only significant profile of him, in Fortune magazine a couple of years ago, Mr. Larson appears to be an unassuming man for such a high-powered role.