Brendan Paddick

"Though Columbus involved telecommunications in the sun-soaked Caribbean, its genesis can be traced back to cold, grey Newfoundland and Labrador, and Risley’s offer of an FPI board seat to Brendan Paddick, then president of Regional Cablesystems, a cable company based in St. John’s. That offer launched a business partnership and a friendship which would be among the strongest of Risley’s life. It would also lead Risley on the Caribbean telecom journey that would propel his wealth to a new level."

"For Brendan Paddick, the Columbus sale turned his US $ 12.5-million personal investment into just over US $ 200 million. Yet he struggled in the year or so after, finding himself with little to do after a decade of heavy work and extensive travel. “We were in acquisition mode, refinancing mode, and then sale mode for two years. So you went from literally hundreds of emails a day on the deal and diligence and answering questions and dealing with the investment bankers and would-be purchasers to, you know, the deal is done and the next morning it’s like, ‘Oh look, menswear is 20 percent off at Macy’s.’” He laughed, then added: “It was very difficult for me personally to go from such a well-defined sense of purpose to almost no sense of purpose. Great, so I got way more money in the bank than I did last week. But what’s my role here?”"