Business magnate Sidney Knox dies at 98

BUSINESSMAN Arthur Lok Jack, in remembering business stalwart and WWII veteran Wilfred Sidney Knox – who died on Tuesday at 98 – said even in its darkest moments, Knox believed in TT’s ability to grow as a country and as an economy.

“Even in the rough times, he still had faith in TT,” Lok Jack said. “He believed TT would go forward all the time, in that regard. In the dark days when people had a lot of negative thoughts of where TT would go as a nation, he never exercised those thoughts at all. He was always very positive.

"He may not have agreed with different people in the Government, but by and large he paid respect to them and he relied on them for their astute management of the economy, even though he did not agree with everything that they did.”

Knox, nicknamed “Bullmoose,” was described by many as not only a shrewd businessman, but a daredevil and swashbuckling air force pilot. He joined the Royal Air Force at 17 and as part of the Sixth Airborne Division was one of the pilots who crossed the Rhine in 1945. Last year he was honoured on Remembrance Day as one of the last surviving TT veterans who battled Nazi Germany.

He joined Neal and Massy after meeting Charles Massy in 1953 and became a managing director some 14 years later, where he used his ability to listen and ask questions and learn fast to develop his business acumen.

Lok Jack said Knox was his mentor for many years, during which time they often shared thoughts on Massy and the economy on the whole.

“He believed very strongly in management and promoting people from within. I would say he trained many general managers within the group,” Lok Jack said. “I learned a lot from him in those years with regard to mergers and acquisitions.

"He acquired many companies, merged them into the group, and then exercised the synergies that were there and removed duplicating costs, and that is how Massy grew.”

When he was inducted into the TT Chamber's Hall of Fame in 2006, the chamber said he had developed a reputation as a tough, shrewd but fair businessman.

“Under Sidney Knox, Neal and Massy moved to the heights of business success,” the Chamber said in his biography.

In expressing condolences to the family on Tuesday, the Chamber said he played a transformational role during the recession years of the 1980s. He rose to many challenges including guiding Massy through two restructurings in 1984 and 1994, and during the trade liberalisation period which saw the shutdown of Massy’s motor assembly plant.

In a media release, the Massy Group said Knox was instrumental in Massy’s expansion across the region.

“It was Mr Knox’s leadership and persistence that led to the group’s sustained investment in Guyana over 50 years ago. He was also responsible for expanding Neal and Massy’s footprint across the Caribbean region and strongly supported the creation of Caricom.”

In the release, Massy Group's president and CEO Gervase Warner said Knox was the longest-serving CEO and chairman of the group.

“There’s a lot of what we have inherited for which we are eternally grateful to Sidney,” Warner said in the release. “May his giant soul rest in peace.”

Although expressing sadness over his passing, Lok Jack applauded Knox for a life well-lived.

“He had a very good innings of 98 years. That is a very good life to live.”