Driving Force FOR LUXURY CAR DEALER GAD BITTON, OWNING A LEARJET 7 5 ALLOWS HIM TO BALANCE BUSINESS, FAMILY AND PHILANTHROPY – WITH NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN. by Kelly Stock | photos by Donny Colantonio
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row of sleek luxury automobiles greets visitors to Holand Automotive Group headquarters: a matte black Lamborghini Huracán, a silver Rolls-Royce Phantom. The chilly morning weather creates a sense of calm across Montreal, but inside the pace is decidedly fast. It’s Friday, and president and CEO Gad Bitton is sequestered in his office fielding calls from Holand’s different divisions across North America. He’s tying up loose ends so he can spend the weekend in town with his family before boarding his Learjet 75 aircraft and flying 1,400 miles down to South Florida, where he owns Lamborghini and Karma of Palm Beach. Although travel is a big part of his day-to-day business, Bitton’s Learjet aircraft lightens his schedule. Before owning a private jet, he says it took him five days to cover three cities – an itinerary he can now fit in one day. “My Learjet lets me fly from Montreal to Florida, meet with clients, do what I have to do, and be home for dinner.”
Fast Lane
Even before Bitton got his driver’s license, he was already buying and selling cars out of his childhood home in the Montreal suburbs. Now, some 35 years later, he owns one of the largest privately held leasing companies in Canada as well as Quebec’s only Rolls-Royce dealership. On top of that, and in addition to his Palm Beach dealerships, he has developed significant real estate holdings 28
EXPERIENCE
ARCHITECTURAL GEMS Bitton also owns and leases properties in Old Montreal, like this historic building constructed in 1873.