2009 - Media / Médias
Off the Clock: The CEO who never grew up John Bitove’s formal education ended years ago, but his passion for the public school system keeps him deeply involved with kids around the country
AMANDA LANG
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Last updated on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 05:04PM EDT
They are like seven-year-old children anywhere: jumpy and fidgety, lined up for a presentation they don’t fully understand. Their principal explains that as of today, thanks to a grant from S’Cool Life Fund—the charitable program that’s the brainchild of John Bitove—they have a hockey program. Their little faces remain blank (that gift of childhood that keeps them from knowing that their school, in northeast Toronto, has fewer resources than some others). But once the impromptu ball hockey starts, they come alive. Faces grow intense with concentration, while friends shriek from the sidelines. In the middle of a thicket of hockey sticks, now being waved like tennis rackets, is Bitove, who also clearly prefers this part of the day’s itinerary.
The high-powered telecom executive, founder of XM Satellite Radio, has the natural athleticism you would expect from a former high school football quarterback—his tall frame and broad shoulders move with surprising agility as he hits the ball. Sport is something Bitove has spent some time on, from chairing Toronto’s Olympic bid in 2001 to founding the Toronto Raptors basketball team. The charitable fund he established isn’t all about athletics, though. It assigns grants to schools for a variety of extracurricular activities, including music, art and drama. “I know from my own experience on a football line that you learn about more than the game when you play a sport,” Bitove says. “You learn about other people, other backgrounds, how to get along.”
Established three years ago, S’Cool Life raises money through Bitove’s other business focus: Priszm Group restaurants, comprising 454 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell outlets across Canada. On-site point-of-purchase donations have raised more than $2 million so far. “Some of the [grant applications] actually make you cry,” says Bitove, who says their first project was one of the most meaningful for him: the purchase of steel drums that would not only create a music program at a Toronto school but would draw in the community of parents, too.
“Some of these schools have so little, and it’s not anything to do with the quality of the teachers,” says Bitove. “You can decide it’s too big a problem and do nothing, or you can do something about it. A few thousand dollars makes all the difference.”
A product of Canada’s public school system himself, Bitove is passionate about what a well-funded educational system can accomplish. He attended York Mills Collegiate Institute in Toronto, before taking his cue from his entrepreneur-dad, John I. Bitove, and leveraging some of the money and expertise he gained working for his father to develop his own businesses. Now he runs not just Priszm—which is doing well, despite recently having to write down the value of some underperforming sites—but also XM Satellite, where he has managed to increase the number of satellite radios being sold in a dismal new-car market. In August, 2008, Bitove created DAVE Wireless after acquiring the rights to wireless spectrum in Canada for $243 million, a move that will enable him to take on the big incumbents, like Telus and Rogers.
Affable and quick, Bitove is a natural salesman, as comfortable with CEOs as he is with second-graders. He wears his minor celebrity easily, too, putting the crowd around him at ease. “My parents were at a wedding with your parents,” a teacher tells him, a trifle gushingly.
Back on the impromptu hockey court, the kids—still screaming—are taking particular delight in scoring against the big executive, who is managing to convey an air of serious competition. They may be pint-sized, but he’s not letting them get away with much. As they line up to shake hands at the end of the game, Bitove, still sweaty from the play, can’t help offering a little instruction: “You’ve got to say ‘good game’ to each other,” he tells them.
The bell rings for recess, and in a flash the kids are off—leaving Bitove slightly winded, clearly happy, and primed to get on to the rest of his day. “No way will the next meeting be as fun,” he grins, and is gone.
THE LIST
Favourite sport to watch Basketball, because I love the game and the athleticism. The athletes are in peak shape, and the teamwork is amazing to watch.
Favourite sport to play Football, because of its physical nature and strategy.
Sport he’s the worst at Golf, because I make mental mistakes and I don’t play enough.
Regular fitness routine I work out three times a week, either running or going to the gym. On the weekends, I go for long-distance (30 km+) bike rides.