Four Seasons Holdings became a reality on the first day of spring in 1961 when Isadore Sharp opened his first hotel in downtown Toronto, Canada, later becoming the headquarters corporate Four Seasons Holdings Inc. The success of its first hotel, and the key ingredient to the future successes of others in the future, was simply to "treat every customer as a special guest." Not long after, the second Four Seasons hotel was built: Toronto's Inn on the Park. Over the years the company has expanded further and grown enormously. What started with a man with a vision and his journey as a contractor, ultimately set the standard for what hotel experiences should be. That said, not only did Isadore and Max Sharp help make the vision a reality, but CEO J. Allen Smith and CFO John Davison are the ones in the corporate offices today ensuring that the basic principles followed by the company are consistently followed . .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although the company follows the basic principle of top-notch customer service and guaranteed guest satisfaction, there are numerous other ways in which the company tries to extend its brand, most of which were unintentional but occurred as a result. One such act would be that of Terry Fox in 1981. Terry Fox was an ordinary man who unfortunately lost a leg to cancer. Because of this, he began planning a “Marathon of Hope” in which he would run from coast to coast in Canada in an effort to raise not only awareness, but also money to support ongoing cancer research. Isadore Sharp was the event's first contributor and sponsor, donating $10,000 to Terry's cause, and also wrote to other Canadian companies urging them to participate. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Terry's cancer returned 143 days later and he was forced to stop before completing his challenge. From there, Isadore decided to contact Fox's family to promise that an annual marathon would be held in Terry's name. With the support of the Canadian Cancer Society and other organizations, the first Terry Fox Fun Run was organized in 1981, attracting more than 300,000 Canadian participants and raising more than $3.2 million for cancer research. Although unintentional, it put Four Seasons in the spotlight as Mr. Sharp took on the task of introducing the Terry Fox Runs to every city where Four Seasons operates and organizing the annual run every September. Furthermore, the company has a positive impact on society. , it may still be considered a bit risky to head into the business without prior knowledge of the company's finances. The stock market alone proves the most complex to understand, especially since Four Seasons Holdings, Inc. apparently went from private to public and back to private again. That said, they do have shareholders and issue shares, but none of this happens on public exchanges and is not offered via a public offering. This in turn makes the stock symbol, current stock rate and previous history unattainable to the public. That said, Four Seasons Holdings has gone private twice over the course of its existence: when it was founded, and most recently in 2007. However, not much is known about why they went private, other than that it involves Bill Gates, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Hotels and a $4 billion deal. Together, they own 95% of the company equally, with founder Isadore Sharp.