6. The Aquilini Family

Aquilini Investment Group Movement

2014: #1The exchange rate is playing havoc with Canadian NHL teams, which pay many expenses (including player salaries) in U.S. funds. Meaning the Canucks’ bottom line doesn’t look nearly as bright as it did a few years ago. The on-ice product also pales in comparison to the team that came within a game of a Stanley Cup championship in 2011.Don’t cry for the Aquilini family, though. With three towers rising above Rogers Arena, a second FlyOver attraction (after the one at Canada Place) soon to open in Minneapolis, extensive blueberry-, cranberry-, and wine-growing properties in the Lower Mainland and Washington state, new restaurants in Whistler, multiple partnerships with the First Nations, and a potentially mammoth pipeline project in northern B.C., the Aquilini Group just keeps growing. The death in June of beloved matriarch Elisa dealt a blow to husband Luigi and their sons (below, left to right) Roberto, Francesco, and Paolo. But the astute hiring of former VPD chief Jim Chu adds depth to a powerful team.

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