Age: 39
As a tall, lanky 20-something establishing himself as the go-to guy for energy investing, George Gosbee
heard CEOs gripe about the same thing: banks don’t understand the oil and gas business. At 30, that complaint prompted Gosbee to start Tristone Capital Inc., a global energy firm with three components: investment banking, property acquisition and divestitures, and capital markets. Gosbee hired geologists and engineers to give his financial experts O&G expertise – a business model never tried before. And, it struck big.
Today, Tristone is the largest independent O&G property acquisition business in the world. It has grown from a one-man shop to 160 employees, with offices in London, Calgary, Houston, Denver and Buenos Aires. “My teachers probably look back and say, ‘How the hell did that happen?’ ” Gosbee jokes.
Deal making has always interested Gosbee. A hyperactive kid, his life changed after a teacher talked about the stock market. He ran home to tell his parents. A few days later he bought mining stock.
Lightning sharp, Gosbee studied finance at the University of Calgary before working at several investment banks. While at Peters & Co. Ltd., he was diagnosed with a golf ballsized tumour. Before surgery, doctors told him he might not live long. A month later, he was back at work.
Today, Gosbee shows no signs of any personal struggle. Bright blue eyes and a cackling laugh puts one at ease. While in Alberta and not travelling throughout the world, which takes about a third of his time, he jogs, rock climbs, and hikes, a pastime he pushes on his firm’s management. “I took all my partners to Mount Rundle,” he says. “I thought it would be a good bonding exercise. When we got to the top, I looked at my 20 partners from around the world and realized, as it started snowing, that they had bonded, by uniting and wanting to kill me.”
COMMUNITY WORK
Board director,
Libin Cardiovascular
Institute
Vice-chair, Alberta
Investment
Management
Corporation
Board member,
Alberta Economic
Development Authority
Board member,
Edge School
Board chairman,
Alberta College
Art and Design
PAST
Board member,
Banff National
Mountain Centre
Board member, Ann
and Sandy Cross
Conservation
Foundation