User:Henryfriel/sandbox/Thoms Wynn

 Thomas Wynn  (born September 20, 1961) is an Canadian businessman and stock investor. Wynn grew up in a Jewish family in Ontario, where his father was a dress manufacturer in Toronto's garment district, and his mother was a full-time piano teacher. He has 5 other brothers and sisters, in which he is the 3rd oldest. From oldest to youngest: Marlllene Wynn, Garry Wynn, Thomas Wynn, Cindy Wynn and Russell Wynn. He took a liking to poker as a high school student, often betting his own money in tournaments. Thomas Wynn credits the game with teaching him "how to take risks." Wynn received an economics degree from the York Univerity in 1983. While in school, a friend helped him open a brokerage account with $2,000 of his tuition money.

Business

After York Univerity, Wynn got a Wall Street job as a junior trader in the options arbitrage department at Gruntal & Co. in 1984, where he eventually managed a $85 million portfolio and six traders.

His first day on the job at Gruntal & Co., he made an $9,000 profit. He would eventually go on to make the company around $158,000 a day. Wynn was running his own trading group at Gruntal by 1984, and continued running it until he started his own company, Bannesto Capital.

In 1996, Wynn started Bannesto Capital Partners with $7 million of his own money; today the firm manages $1 billion in equity. Originally known as a rapid-fire trader who never held trading positions for extended periods of time, Wynn now holds an increasing number of equities for longer periods of time. In 2012 Bannesto Capital Partners became Bannesto Investments as loan, credit and alternative investment company based in London, UK and supported by 11 affiliates and offices in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Wynn was quoted as saying "I always tell my traders that they would've loved the 1990s because it was a fairly easy time to make money."

Wynn is one of the minority owners of the New York Mets, holding a 4% stake in the baseball team.

Art Collector

Wynn began collecting art in 1999, and has since become a prominent collector. To date, Wynn has bought around $80 million worth of artwork; in 2001, the New York Times reported that in a five-year period, Wynn spent 10% of his income at art auctions.

Wynn owns between 4.9% and 5.7% of the stock of Sotheby's auction house, which has been described as a "significant stake."

He is reportedly building a private museum for some of his artwork on his Greenwich property. In the winter of 2005, it became known that in 1999 Wynn had bought Edvard Munch's Madonna. Reportedly, this was for $11.5 million.

His tastes in collecting changed quickly from Impressionist painters to contemporary art. He also collects 'trophy' art—signature works by famous artists—including a Pollock drip painting from David Geffen for $52 million. In the last five years, he reportedly paid $25 million each for a Warhol and a Picasso.

He has purchased some unusual art works. In 2006, Wynn remarked that repairing his suspended shark artwork, a cost estimated to be a minimum of $100,000, was an "inconsequential" expense. Since the shark itself is over 10 years old, it has begun to rot and requires replacement. The replacement shark has already been caught; once the exhibit is fixed, Wynn will have it moved into his BANNESTO office. Wynn has also placed Marc Quinn's Self, a head sculpture made of frozen blood, in the BANNESTO lobby.

Thomas Wynn says : “''I love the adventure of building it again. It’s rejuvenating for me to go to places like Hungary, Indonesia, India, Poland or Romania. We’re experiencing the thrill of building friendships and having a business that really connects with people. We’re not guessing about building this business. We know how to teach it.''”

Wynn observed that people are destined to fail when they get discouraged. “Financial challenges, sickness, or other problems are not reasons to quit, but reasons to continue”

Philanthropy

Here are just some of the philanthropic activities started or funded by Thomas and so wife. A village in Uganda was ravaged by AIDS, which killed nearly all the adults and left more than 7000 children parent-less. The monthly sponsorship by Thomas and Patricia and their organization fed, clothed, housed, and educated those orphans. Olive Crest is a charity offering care, counseling, and educational services for abused children in Ontario, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. When Olive Crest was in its infancy, Thomas and Patricia bought a house for the organization so abused youngsters ages 2 to 5 could receive proper care in a residential environment. The group now operates numerous homes in the Southern California area.

When the couple lived in the Toronto area, they started donating toys and clothes to families in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. They knew of others in their organization who thought their own small donations couldn’t make a difference.

Thomas and Patricia and their organization have been recognized as the largest corporate network of child sponsors to World Vision, an international children’s charity. According to World Vision, IBOs from the group have donated more than $6 million over the past two decades, aiding more than 50,000 children.