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George Alexander Cope CM (born 28 July 1961) is a Canadian businessman, and the former CEO of Bell Canada.
George A. Cope | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 July 1961 |
| Education | University of Western Ontario (BBA, 1984) |
Cope was born in Scarborough, Ontario and grew up in Port Perry.[1] Cope's father played for a short time for the Toronto Argonauts, after which he ran gas stations and rustproofing shops. Cope's mother ran a store that sold fabrics.[1] Cope attended Port Perry High School[1] and played on the high school's basketball team and was also student council president. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with honours in 1984 from the Ivey Business School at Western University.[2]
Cope was named CEO of Bell[citation needed] at the age of 53 as part of a proposed thirty five billion dollar leveraged buyout led by Providence Equity and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund in 2008.[3] Due to the credit crunch and the ensuing financial crisis of 2007–08, however, the buyout was cancelled. He led a competitor, Telus Mobility, before becoming President at Bell in 2005. He previously ran Clearnet, a wireless company that was bought by Telus in 2000.[3]
In 2010, Cope led the launch of the Bell Let's Talk Initiative,[4] a major corporate campaign to improve mental health in Canada, for which he received The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.[citation needed]
In June 2019, BCE announced Cope will retire in January 2020, at which point COO Mirko Bibic will become CEO.[5] Over the past 10 years, under Cope's leadership, company profits tripled to $3.05 billion.[6]
Cope sits on the board of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) and was instrumental in the firing of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke after BCE acquired MLSE.[7] As of 2015, Cope is also a member of the Richard Ivey School of Business Advisory Board at Western University and a member of the Business Council of Canada.[2]
Cope was named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year in 2015. He was also listed as one of Canada's top-paid CEO's by The Globe and Mail in 2014.[8]
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