Alex Shnaider: Billionaire Businessman who Bartered his way to Success

From Ukraine to Israel to Canada, businessman Alex Shnaider has followed a path of multinational success, marked by strategic risk-taking and innate street smarts. Along the way, this self-made billionaire also became a global philanthropist.

Key to his success was hard work, being resourceful, and understanding how to connect with people, traits he learned by watching and helping his parents run a small delicatessen in Toronto. Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union, his family emigrated to Israel in 1972 when he was a toddler. They moved again to Canada when he was a teenager.

Shnaider quickly discovered his financial acumen when he studied economics at York University in Toronto, graduating with honors. A quick study in languages and with the help of family contacts, businessman Shnaider began brokering steel export deals after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He co-founded Midland Group in 1994.

Within five years, Alex Shnaider’s Midland Group had acquired a controlling stake in Ukraine’s largest steel producer. Over the next decade, Midland Group established itself as a global steel exporter and international investment holding company.

Midland Group took risks that others avoided, bartering for goods, agreeing to pay for steel while it was still in production, helping supply the infrastructure that the mills needed.

The success of Midland Group bolstered Shnaider’s fortunes, placing him among an elite circle of Canadian billionaires. Shnaider attributes his success to finding the right business niche at the opportune moment. As Midland Group thrived, Shnaider diversified into real estate and other private ventures aligning with his personal interests. By 2005, he was on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people.

“Sure, it’s nice to hear that my name is being included among some of the world’s most successful people, but the truth is, I really don’t devote much attention to things like this. I prefer to focus my attention on the areas that enabled me to get on the list — specifically, improving our core businesses and creating new opportunities for Midland Group,” businessman Shnaider said in 2005.

A sports car aficionado who owns a fleet of luxury cars and a private jet, he spent $50 million to buy the Jordan Formula One racing team. He rebranded it as Midland F1 Racing for the 2006 Formula One season, and sold it several years later, quadrupling his investment. He also briefly owned Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team.

In recent years, businessman Shnaider has invested in real estate and finance, with significant development projects in Israel, Canada and around the world. He is the majority owner of Mishorim Real Estate Investments, a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that owns commercial real estate in Israel and the United States. Mishorim is also the controlling shareholder in Skyline Investments Inc., which operates resorts and hotels in Canada and the US.

One business associate once described Shnaider as the quintessential motivated immigrant, armed with education, raw intelligence, and drive, with a rare ability to analyze information quickly. “Alex will not stop. It’s not really about the money. It’s about the achievement – setting impossible goals and doing it.”

Beyond business, billionaire Alex Shnaider is married, with three adult daughters. He and his family have been major donors to healthcare organizations and Jewish philanthropies, including the Sinai Health Foundation, the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, the Sunnybrook Foundation, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, the Ronald McDonald House Charities, and more. Shnaider also served as a board member of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto.