Prem Watsa

Prem Watsa
Prem Watsa
Born	V. Prem Watsa 5 8, 1950
Birthplace	Hyderabad, Hyderabad State (present-day Telangana), India
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Businessman, investor
Title	Chairman and CEO, Fairfax Financial Holdings
Known for	Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings
Education	Indian Institute of Technology Madras (B.Tech); University of Western Ontario (MBA)
Awards	Order of Canada; Padma Bhushan (2020); Chancellor, University of Waterloo (2009–2014)
Website	[[www.fairfax.ca www.fairfax.ca] Official site]

V. Prem Watsa (born 5 August 1950) is an Indian-Canadian billionaire businessman and investor who is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Toronto-based financial holding company engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, and investment management. Born in Hyderabad, India, Watsa emigrated to Canada in the 1970s and built Fairfax Financial from a small Canadian trucking insurance company into a global enterprise with operations spanning multiple continents. His investment philosophy, rooted in the principles of Benjamin Graham and value investing, along with his record of contrarian bets and long-term capital allocation, has led the financial press to refer to him as the "Canadian Warren Buffett." Watsa served as the 9th Chancellor of the University of Waterloo from 2009 to 2014, succeeding Mike Lazaridis. In 2020, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, one of the country's highest civilian honours, in recognition of his contributions to trade and industry. As of 2025, Fairfax Financial's 13F portfolio was valued at approximately $2.06 billion, reflecting a concentrated, high-conviction investment approach.

Early Life

Vivian Prem Watsa was born on 5 August 1950 in Hyderabad, in the former Hyderabad State of India (present-day Telangana). He grew up in a middle-class family in Hyderabad and received his early education in India. Details regarding his parents and family background during his formative years remain limited in public sources, though accounts describe a childhood shaped by the values of discipline, education, and self-reliance that were common in professional Indian families of that era.

Watsa's early intellectual development was marked by a strong aptitude for mathematics and engineering, which led him to pursue higher education at one of India's most competitive institutions. His decision to attend the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) placed him among a highly selective cohort of students in the country. IIT Madras later recognized his achievements by naming him a Distinguished Alumnus, an honour bestowed upon graduates who have made exceptional contributions in their respective fields.

After completing his undergraduate education in India, Watsa emigrated to Canada in the 1970s. The move represented a significant transition — from the academic environment of one of India's premier engineering institutions to a new country where he would have to establish himself from the ground up. It was in Canada that Watsa's interests shifted from engineering toward finance and business, a pivot that would define the rest of his career. His arrival in Canada coincided with a period of significant immigration from South Asia, and Watsa would go on to become one of the most prominent Indian-Canadian business figures in the country's history.

Education

Watsa earned his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, one of the Indian Institutes of Technology established by the Government of India as centres of excellence in engineering and technology education. His time at IIT Madras provided him with a rigorous analytical foundation that he would later apply to financial analysis and investment decision-making.

After emigrating to Canada, Watsa pursued graduate studies at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario (now Western University), where he earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA). It was during his MBA programme that Watsa was first introduced to the value investing philosophy of Benjamin Graham, the economist and investor whose seminal works Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor would profoundly influence Watsa's approach to investment and capital allocation. Watsa has cited his exposure to Graham's principles at Ivey as a transformative experience that shaped his entire professional career. He later served on the advisory board of the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing, an institution connected to the Ivey Business School.

Career

Early Career and Founding of Fairfax Financial

After completing his MBA, Watsa entered the Canadian financial services industry. In the mid-1980s, he acquired control of a small Canadian trucking insurance company, which would become the foundation for Fairfax Financial Holdings. The name "Fairfax" is an abbreviation of "fair, friendly acquisitions," reflecting Watsa's stated philosophy regarding corporate transactions and his approach to building the company through acquisitions rather than hostile takeovers.

Under Watsa's leadership, the small insurance company was systematically transformed into a diversified financial holding company. The growth strategy centred on acquiring undervalued insurance and reinsurance companies, improving their operations, and deploying their investment float — the pool of premiums held before claims are paid — into long-term value investments. This model bore a structural resemblance to the approach employed by Berkshire Hathaway under Warren Buffett, a comparison that financial journalists and analysts have frequently drawn.

Growth of Fairfax Financial

Through the 1990s and 2000s, Fairfax Financial expanded significantly through a series of acquisitions in the insurance and reinsurance sectors. The company acquired operations in the United States, Europe, and Asia, building a global footprint that extended well beyond its Canadian base. Key acquisitions over the years included insurance underwriting businesses and reinsurance operations that provided Fairfax with a diversified premium base and significant investment capital.

One notable transaction occurred in 2010, when Fairfax Financial completed the acquisition of Zenith National Insurance, a U.S.-based workers' compensation insurer. The deal, which was valued at a significant premium, faced a legal challenge from Zenith National investors who sought to halt the acquisition. However, the challenge was unsuccessful, and the transaction proceeded.

Watsa's investment philosophy at Fairfax has consistently emphasised contrarian thinking and deep value analysis. He has maintained large cash positions and hedging strategies during periods when he perceived markets to be overvalued, and he has taken concentrated positions in companies he believed to be fundamentally undervalued. This approach has produced both substantial gains and periods of underperformance relative to broader market indices, reflecting the inherent volatility of contrarian value investing.

BlackBerry Involvement

One of Watsa's most prominent and widely reported investment positions was in BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion). As BlackBerry's share price declined from its peak during the smartphone transition era, Watsa accumulated a significant stake in the company. In 2013, a consortium led by Fairfax Financial proposed to acquire BlackBerry for approximately $4.7 billion in what would have been a take-private transaction. The proposed buyout ultimately did not proceed as structured, but Fairfax remained a major shareholder in BlackBerry. Watsa served on BlackBerry's board of directors, and Fairfax continued to hold the position as part of its broader portfolio for years.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, adjustments to the BlackBerry position were noted in Fairfax's 13F filings. An analysis of the filing indicated that BlackBerry saw a -1.32% portfolio impact in Watsa's portfolio adjustments during that period.

Investment Philosophy and Portfolio Concentration

Watsa's approach to portfolio construction has been characterised by high concentration. As of September 2025, analysis of Fairfax Financial's 13F filings showed that Watsa's top five positions represented 70.19% of the total portfolio, reflecting a highly concentrated allocation strategy consistent with his long-standing belief in making large bets on his highest-conviction ideas.

By the third quarter of 2025, the Fairfax Financial 13F portfolio had risen to approximately $2.06 billion. Analysis of the portfolio in early 2026 described a "steady, high-conviction allocation toward real assets, energy, and restructuring platforms," consistent with Watsa's long-standing approach of positioning through deep value and optionality.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Watsa made notable adjustments to his portfolio, including a 44% reduction in his stake in Orla Mining, cutting his position by 25 million shares.

Real Estate and Kennedy Wilson

In February 2026, reports emerged that Watsa was in line to acquire a majority stake in Kennedy Wilson, a Beverly Hills-based real estate investment company. The proposed transaction would keep Kennedy Wilson's existing leadership, including CEO William McMorrow and senior executives, in charge as part of a plan to take the company private. This move was consistent with Watsa's long-standing strategy of acquiring undervalued or distressed assets and holding them for long-term appreciation.

Views on Real Estate Markets

Watsa has periodically made public statements regarding his assessment of real estate markets. In a notable instance, he expressed the view that the Toronto real estate market was experiencing a bubble and predicted that "people are going to get hurt" when prices corrected. Such public commentary reflected his broader willingness to take contrarian positions and express views that diverged from prevailing market sentiment.

Long-Term Investing Strategy and Criticism

While Watsa's long-term track record at Fairfax Financial has attracted a following among value investors, his approach has also drawn scrutiny. A 2026 analysis by Corporate Knights examined what it described as "the giant oversight in Prem Watsa's long-term investing strategy," raising questions about aspects of Fairfax Financial's portfolio construction and capital allocation decisions. Watsa's extended hedging positions against equity markets during the 2010s, in particular, resulted in significant opportunity costs during a sustained bull market, and this period has been a focal point of both criticism and analysis.

Personal Life

Watsa is a Canadian citizen who has resided in Toronto for the majority of his adult life. He maintains connections to India, where he was born, and has been involved in various philanthropic activities in both Canada and India. His son, Ben Watsa, has also been involved in business.

Watsa's lifestyle has been described by observers and journalists as relatively modest given his wealth, a characteristic frequently noted in profiles that compare his personal habits to those of other notable value investors. He has spoken publicly about the influence of his Indian upbringing and his emigration experience on his business philosophy and personal values.

In his public statements and shareholder letters, Watsa has frequently referenced the intellectual influences that have shaped his thinking, including the writings of Benjamin Graham and the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett. He has described his annual shareholder letters for Fairfax Financial as an important channel for communicating with shareholders about the company's investment philosophy and long-term objectives, following a format similar to Buffett's well-known annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

Recognition

Watsa has received recognition from both Canadian and Indian institutions for his contributions to business and finance. In Canada, he was named to the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honours.

In 2020, the Government of India conferred upon Watsa the Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian award, in the category of trade and industry. The honour was announced alongside awards to other prominent business figures, including Anand Mahindra and Venu Srinivasan. IIT Madras also congratulated Watsa upon the announcement of the Padma Bhushan.

Watsa served as the 9th Chancellor of the University of Waterloo from 2009 to 2014, succeeding Mike Lazaridis, the co-founder of BlackBerry Limited. In this role, he presided over convocation ceremonies and served as the titular head of the university. He was succeeded by Tom Jenkins.

IIT Madras recognized Watsa with its Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999, honouring his achievements in the field of finance and business.

Watsa has also been recognized by Huron University College, which noted his contributions to Canadian business and education.

Legacy

Prem Watsa's career represents one of the most notable examples of an immigrant entrepreneur building a major financial institution in Canada. Starting from modest beginnings upon his arrival from India, Watsa constructed Fairfax Financial Holdings into a global insurance and investment holding company, a trajectory that has been cited as an illustration of the opportunities available in Canada's financial services industry.

His investment philosophy, grounded in the Benjamin Graham tradition of value investing, has influenced a generation of Canadian investors and fund managers. The annual Fairfax Financial shareholder meetings and Watsa's shareholder letters have become significant events in the Canadian investment community, drawing comparisons to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings in Omaha, Nebraska.

Watsa's willingness to take large, contrarian positions — including his extended bearish hedges on equity markets and his significant investment in BlackBerry during a period of sharp decline — has made him a subject of both admiration and debate in financial circles. His career illustrates both the potential rewards and the risks inherent in concentrated, conviction-driven value investing. The comparison to Warren Buffett, while flattering, has also invited scrutiny of the periods where Fairfax's returns have diverged from those of Berkshire Hathaway.

His dual recognition by both the Canadian and Indian governments — through the Order of Canada and the Padma Bhushan — reflects the transnational nature of his influence and his standing in both countries. As of 2026, Watsa continues to serve as Chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, actively managing the company's investment portfolio and pursuing new acquisition opportunities, including the reported pursuit of a majority stake in Kennedy Wilson.