Arthur James Nesbitt (19 August 1880 – 24 October 1954) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He was a cofounder of Nesbitt, Thomson and Company stockbrokerage and the Power Corporation of Canada.
Biography
Salesman and Royal Securities
Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Arthur Nesbitt first worked as a dry goods salesman, peddling products to area merchants. During the course of his travels he met Peter A. T. Thomson, a pickle salesman for the Canadian arm of the H. J. Heinz Company. The two struck up a friendship and would promote each other to their customers.
Nesbitt was hired by British newspaper magnate Max Aitken, better known as Lord Beaverbrook, to work for his Royal Securities Corporation stock brokerage. In 1906, after undergoing training in London, England, Aitken sent Nesbitt to open a Royal Securities office in Montreal, Quebec, the then financial center of Canada. Nesbitt prospered while working for Royal Securities.