Two new Dragons help fire up Den’s ninth season
Bay Street financier and Vancouver’s Vikram Vij bring expertise to show that judges entrepreneurs’ business ideas
TORONTO — Brace yourselves, Canadian entrepreneurs: two new dragons are entering the den.
Bay Street financier Michael Wekerle — billed as Mick Jagger meets Warren Buffett — and Vancouver restaurateur Vikram Vij are the newest additions to CBC’s Dragons’ Den.
Returning for a ninth season Wednesday, the newbies join Jim Treliving, Arlene Dickinson and David Chilton to judge Canadians’ business ideas and dole out cash to those deemed worthy.
Wekerle has a reputation for being a rock star in bankers’ clothing, known equally for his wild lifestyle as his business acumen. But he said in a summer interview that he brings a sense of “humanity” to the show.
“I believe in certain core values and I’m glad to say that all the Dragons … I find, are very, very strong and ethical people,” he said. “Respect, loyalty, generosity, honesty, reciprocity and the best word, empathy — those are the words that I live my life by.”
It’s time for younger entrepreneurs, younger chefs, to come in and create a newer buzz ( in Vancouver). VIKRAM VIJ VANCOUVER RESTAURATEUR
He said he proved his talents on the Toronto Stock Exchange trading room floor at age 18.
He went on to make fortunes investing in media and tech companies, including BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion. Dubbed The Oracle of Bay Street by Toronto Life magazine, Wekerle now oversees a vast investment portfolio and most recently founded the merchant banking firm Difference Capital.
Chilton said that Wekerle brought a sense of “unpredictability” to the show — in a positive way. He said he looked at deals from a perspective that the other Dragons hadn’t seen before.
“We all have a lot of experience in deals, but obviously he has the most. You’ve probably got the most in the country, in some ways. So I thought there was imagination there and creativity in some of the deal structures that was neat to see,” he said.
“Plus he showed up every day,” Chilton joked. “That was a little bit worrisome to all of us.”
Vij, meanwhile, is well known in Vancouver for his Indian fusion restaurants and cookbooks. Born in India, he left home at age 20 to pursue his culinary dreams, eventually opening his first restaurant Vij’s in 1994.
“I’ve done it for 20 years now. It’s time for younger entrepreneurs, younger chefs, to come in and create a newer buzz there,” he said. “It’s funny because the other day, somebody in the restaurant industry called me a veteran, and I was like, oh my God, just 20 years ago, I was called a newbie. So it felt kind of good.”
Vij has previously appeared as a judge on CBC’s Recipes to Riches and Food Network’s Top Chef Canada and Chopped Canada.