Building a business is only as strong as the values you build on.
Peter Thomas has been a values based serial entrepreneur for more than four decades, specializing in real estate and franchising. He is recognized as one of the leading developers and lenders of his time in North America. Peter has developed billions of dollars in real estate projects, including shopping centers, apartments, condominiums, hotels and golf courses.
Peter has authored many books including Windows of Opportunity, Never Fight with a Pig, Passport to Business Success, Be Great and Be Great in Business and is currently working on his latest book – Be Great at 80. He has been featured on the cover of numerous magazines and has been recognized with many awards over the years including the National Caring Award, an honor shared by General Colin Powell and Laura Bush and the prestigious Ernest and Young Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
For his outstanding commitment to values, ethics, entrepreneurship and quality of life, Royal Roads University was pleased to present Peter Thomas for the honorary degree, Doctor of Laws.
Peter developed the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, was Chairman and Founder of Century 21 Real Estate Canada Ltd., and founded Samoth Capital Corporation, a Canadian public real estate company now known as Sterling Centrecorp Inc. As a private equity investor, he has acquired and developed through public and private investment vehicles, billions of dollars of real estate assets. One major land development Peter acquired from the Resolution Trust was the 1,276 acre master planned development in San Antonio Texas known as Westover Hills.
Franchising has always been a core business in Peter’s financial world and he has invested in many new and exciting concepts. For his first franchise opportunity, he founded Century 21 Real Estate Canada Ltd. which he eventually sold with a sales force of 8,000 and sales totaling $9 billion annually, and that was in 1987 dollars! His most recent franchise venture is Dogtopia, dog daycare, which in the three short years since his acquisition has grown from 20 franchises to 82 with an additional 161 in the pipeline. In addition to an investor, earlier this year Peter became a multi-unit franchisee investing in 12 Dogtopia locations for the greater Seattle, WA region and is currently in the site-selection process for 5 locations in Vancouver, Canada.
Philanthropy has always played a significant role in Peter’s life and as such he has been an author, a sought after keynote speaker and a mentor to many, from all walks of life. Peter also created a four hour LifePilot program to teach others to live a life in alignment with their values. He has taught this program all over the world to billionaires, prisoners and everything in between.
One of Peter’s most significant contributions is Chairman Emeritus of the Entrepreneurs Organization and his role in the founding of EO which currently has 13,000+ members with 179 chapters in 57 countries. He has also been very involved in the Global Student Entrepreneurs Program “GSEA”, a premier global competition for student entrepreneurs who actively run a business.
