Newton Glassman

Newton Glassman is the founder and managing partner of Catalyst Capital Group, the second largest private equity firm in Canada. He was also the CEO of Callidus Capital Corp., an alternative lending company that traded publicly before being taken private in 2019, which he led until he stepped down in 2018 citing medical issues.

Early life and education

Glassman is the son of a surgeon. While in college, he successfully sued his father to force child support payments, based on Ontario court records. He received an undergraduate and law degree at the University of Toronto. He then attended business school at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with an MBA in 1990.

Career

After graduating he joined Canadian Corporate Funding Ltd., then one of Canada's leading private equity firms.

Catalyst buys Callidus

Alternative lender Callidus Capital Corp. was founded by Sam Fleiser in 2004. In 2007, Catalyst bought a controlling share in Callidus; Catalyst owns almost 60% of Callidus and is a main source of funding for Callidus as well.

In 2011, Glassman took over Callidus with the goal of making the company public and increasing its loan books. By 2019, Callidus had posted 10 consecutive quarters of net losses in what was described as a company “meltdown”. Analysts have said legal chill is one likely reason buyers were reluctant to come forward. In October 2019, Braslyn Ltd spent 75 cents a share, 95 per cent below the company’s initial offer price in 2014, and in the transaction bought "the minority shares not owned by Catalyst".

The neonatal intensive care unit of Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has borne Glassman's name since 2014. In 2022, Newton and his wife separated.