Wright to Join Onex Again

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Former chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Nigel Wright, is planned to soon return to Canada’s largest private equity firm, Onex Corp. (OCX), where he previously worked as managing director. The news was confirmed by a statement issued by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Gerald Schwartz, during an interview yesterday, as he said that “we are very hopeful that very soon Nigel will be back at Onex.” Schwartz added that “I think that he will, and I think he will in the very near future.”

After accepting the offer to serve as the top aide of the Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Wright took a leave of absence from his position at Onex. However, he later resigned from that position in May 2013 after he accepted sole responsibility for writing a $90,000 (US$82,000) check to help Canadian Senator Mike Duffy repay improperly claimed expenses. According to an announced by The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in April, Wright was not made to face any criminal charges in the matter.

Despite the scandal, Schwartz remained loyal to Wright. He mentioned during the interview that “he’s a wonderful person and a great talent.” Schwartz added that “he loves politics, and he did extremely well at it and he unfortunately got caught up in exactly why a lot of people never go near politics.” Onex declined 0.8 per cent to US$67.11 at 9:43 a.m. today in Toronto. Although, overall the company’s shares advanced 17 per cent this year compared with a 7.7 per cent rise in the benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index.