Toronto’s 50 Most Influential: #15, Randy Lennox
Our annual ranking of the people whose smarts, connections and clout are changing the city as we know it
Randy Lennox
Bell Media
15 When alt-R&B phenom the Weeknd was presented with the Allan Slaight Award for most promising up-and-comer at the 2014 Canada Walk of Fame show, he gave heartfelt thanks to Randy Lennox, then–president and CEO of Universal Music Canada. Lennox, the record exec who discovered teen star Shawn Mendes and turned Bieber fever into a global pandemic, had signed the artist otherwise known as Abel Tesfaye to a record deal three years earlier, sensing huge mainstream potential in the dread-headed Scarboroughian’s sultry sound. Four months ago, Lennox was named president of entertainment production and broadcasting at Bell, which gives him domain over all the company’s original and in-house television productions, including homegrown hits like Orphan Black and The Amazing Race Canada, and puts him in prime position to do for Canadian TV and radio what he’s already done for the country’s music scene.
Friends in High Places:
Billionaire philanthropist Gary Slaight, Roots co-founder Michael Budman, Barclay Canada CEO Bruce Rothney.
