The Fairfax Way: Inside Prem Watsa's Secret to Lasting Success

by David Thomas

The inside story on Canada’s most successful, below-the-radar company in history

Even those who have heard of Prem Watsa and Fairfax Financial probably don’t understand them. The company sprawls across more than 100 countries and is known for its complex finances—so complex, they once attracted a who’s-who of Wall Street short sellers who misread the company as the next Enron and decided it could be profitably pushed into an open grave. The hedge funds even had Bob Dylan lined up to sing at the company’s funeral party. Fairfax stared down regulators and fought back. Dylan never got the chance to sing.

Watsa, now 75, stole a page from Warren Buffett in building a $45 billion global empire built on value investing and insurance assets. Its bold and creative trades are legendary, often moving against the herd and making billions while others lose their shirts. These days, the company is back winning billion-dollar bets, but away from the headlines. The Fairfax Way explores the lessons learned and why skies are now blue above a transformed company.

In its 39-year history, Fairfax’s annual compound return of 19.2% trounces the S&P 500’s 11.3%. Lately, it is outperforming even Silicon Valley tech stocks and winning back an investor following. It’s time to get to know Fairfax better. The company’s holdings include strategic investments like Bauer hockey sticks, William Ashley wedding gifts, Sleep Country mattresses, Golf Town stores, and Seaspan container ships. If you took home Swiss Chalet chicken last week or went for steak at the Keg, you ate at Fairfax restaurants.

It’s time to get to know Prem Watsa better, too. People long misjudged him as a recluse. Truth is, he simply always wanted to build a business, not talk to the media. After 40 years, he and his executives have finally decided it’s a good time to open up.

For all the colourful dealmaking, billion-dollar bets, high-stakes hedge fund wars, Thomas reveals an inspiring story for our current troubled times. What emerges is that many people just had trouble believing Fairfax had the audacity to build a company culture based on the golden rule—treat others as you would have them treat you. The Fairfax Way captures the inside story of how a culture of treating people right can be a secret competitive moat to long-term outperformance.

Genres: Business, Finance, Biography

376 pages, Hardcover

Published November 18, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: This profile contains more than one author. Those listed below have multiple books listed on GoodReads.

David Thomas (2^): GR author, historical books about Camborne, Cornwall, England
David Thomas (3^): anthologies, mostly horror
David Thomas (4^): British professor specializing in Christian-Muslim relations
David Thomas (5^): GR author who collaborates on autobiographies
David Thomas (6^): art
David Thomas (7^): math and other educational books
David Thomas (8^): Director of Family Counseling at Daystar Counseling
David Thomas (9^): GR author, memoirs that are vastly different
David Thomas (10^): Theatre & Performance Studies
David Thomas (11^): French poetry
David Thomas (12^): Australian history professor
David Thomas (13^): Former name of Tom Cain, now Diana Thomas
David Thomas (14^): Poet who is a mental health worker from Ohio
David Thomas (15^): British archivist
David Thomas (16^): American, The Ethics of Human Development
David Thomas (17^): musician,lead singer of Pere Ubu
David Thomas (18^): Poet from Michigan, goes by “King David”
David Thomas (19^): cookbooks
David Thomas (20^): children’s books about animals from 1940s-1960s
David Thomas (21^): Welsh, non-fiction
David Thomas (22^): GR author of Worst Wizard
David Thomas (23^): GR author, “micro-fiction”
David Thomas (24^): GR author of the Michael Manners Dream Sequence series
David Thomas (25^): books about the tango
David Thomas (26^): GR author of Luna
David Thomas (27^): books about narcissism
David Thomas (28^): “The Art of Personal Spiritual Warfare” series of books
David Thomas (29^): Dutch children’s books
David Thomas (30^): bee keeping
David Thomas (31^): riddle books
David Thomas (32^): The Night Hunters series
David Thomas (33^): books from 1910s-1940s about typesetting
David Thomas (34^): Print on Demand books
David Thomas (35^): English to ... dictionaries
David Thomas (36^): American retired videogame critic
David Thomas (37^): adult

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Thomas’s The Fairfax Way: Inside Prem Watsa's Secret to Lasting Success reads as a brisk, accessible introduction to Fairfax Financial—its evolution, its deal-making DNA, and the personal story and principles of Prem Watsa that have shaped the organization. The book sketches Fairfax’s history alongside Watsa’s value-investing mindset, emphasizing a long-term orientation, a strong ethical compass, and a culture that expects subsidiaries to operate with integrity and autonomy.

Where the book struggled for me was depth. It’s noticeably repetitive, revisiting the same lessons and ethical themes in the historical narrative and then circling back to them again in later topical sections. That structure might be helpful for readers who want reinforcement, but it also made the experience feel padded—especially when many business episodes are described at a high level without enough detail to make them truly instructive.

My biggest disappointment, though, is that it tends to avoid the hard, practical questions that naturally arise from Fairfax’s philosophy. The celebration of decentralization—letting CEOs run their companies as they see fit—sounds compelling, but I kept waiting for a clearer explanation of how Fairfax handles real-world friction points (like overlapping business lines or internal competition among subsidiaries). Similarly, the “guiding points” and culture are described more as ideals than as concrete operating practices; aside from standout moments like not reneging on a deal, I wanted more examples of what those principles look like when tested, especially when a company struggles to align.

Even with those limitations, I’m still glad I read it. There’s subtle value here in the steady emphasis on patience, ethics, and long-term thinking—qualities that feel increasingly rare in business storytelling. If you’re looking for a thoughtful primer on Fairfax and the values behind it, this delivers. If you want a deeper, more critical, nuts-and-bolts examination, you may find it frustratingly surface-level.

[Shiva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and well written.

A compelling look at Prem Watsa's journey building Fairfax.

One thing that doesn't change: IRCC keeps rejecting study visas, even rejected Watsa himself back in the day! 😂

[Patricia Buchanan]

Fascinating from the perspective of a company living its values.

[Zachary Workman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first half of the book, walking through the history of Fairfax. The second half didn't provide as much value and could have been more concise, in my opinion.

[Dan Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prem Watsa, the founder and CEO of Fairfax, is often described as the Warren Buffett of Canada. Dozens of books have been written about the latter, but this is the first about Watsa. That's primarily because Watsa is publicity-shy and Fairfax's internal operations are mostly secretive.

Given the lack of public information about the subject, this book couldn't have been written without the cooperation of Watsa and Fairfax's management team. Unfortunately, that is the book's big weakness: the author seems so appreciative of their assistance that the book is far too fawning and uncritical. It might as well be published by Fairfax's PR department (which, if it exists, must be very underworked).

As such, I don't think anyone who isn't already a fan of Fairfax would find the book to be a worthwhile read. I see it more as an owner's manual for Fairfax shareholders.

[Daniel Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book is okay written, content is okay. Not all that impressive from a literary perspective.

A lot of the book tells the history of the business from a stock price perspective, as if the main thing is the stock, and not the actual underlying company. I personally don't love that, and I am sure it would offend other value investors as it is a bit contrary to the principles.

Overall, I walk away being somewhat impressed by Fairfax, but I don't think I want to become a shareholder. The amount of major directionally wrong calls that they have made over time seems to be impressive.

It seems to me that the strength of the business is the insurance, and there have been many mistakes from a capital allocation investment side of things. I know the business is often described as the Berkshire Hathaway of Canada and Prem as Canadian Buffet but I'm not so sure they are in the same league.

[Harshan Ramadass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat disjointed. But readable. Felt like collection of pieces from the globe. Not much new stuff about value investing , and use of floats to fuel investing is also well known. Good cover to cover read during a transcontinental flight

[Brendan Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read for those looking to learn more about the history of Fairfax Financial and Prem Watsa. The book includes a number of interesting interviews, with extensive interviews with Prem throughout the book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

As another reviewer said, it could've been more concise. Loved the biography bits, but then it went into minutiae about everything that Fairfax did.

[Kiera Taylor]

read for work.

[Peter Dimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great review of one of Canada’s least known, most successful companies. Maybe 30% too long though.

[Tyler Pellom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great company, but the book is just a marketing pitch.

[Gregory Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing book about a fascinating and clearly moral man who successfully conducts his business with honesty, integrity, and responsibility, three qualities rarely shared in the corporate world.