'''Paul Reichmann''' (; born 1930) is a Canadian businessman best known for his leadership of the Olympia & York property development company.

==Formative years==
Reichmann was born in egg merchant and his wife René.  His parents were Haredi Jews from a small town in Hungary, but his father had risen to prominence in Vienna as a successful merchant.  

The family escaped the Nazi occupation of Austria by sheer chance, as they happened to leave the country on the day of Anschluss, to visit Paul's grandfather in Hungary who had suffered a stroke.  Abandoning their lives in Vienna, they made their way from Hungary to Paris, where they settled.  The Reichmann family fled when France fell to the Germans, eventually making their way to the neutral city of Tangier.

In Tangier, the family prospered as Samuel became a major currency trader.  After the war Paul left home to study religion first in Britain and then in Israel.  He was a brilliant pupil and became a Rabbi.  In 1953 he returned to Morocco to become a teacher, and that same year he married Lea Feldman.

==Rising success==
Three years later Paul left Morocco to join his elder brother Edward in Albert and Ralph, moved to Toronto to set up a branch of the flooring and tile company in that city.

Unsatisfied with the local builders, Paul Reichmann decided the company would construct its own warehouses and offices.  Soon the company was building such facilities for others.  In 1964, Olympia and York was founded as a separate building and property development firm. 

The firm was soon profitable, and expanded rapidly.  It also accepted difficult projects, including the construction of First Canadian Place, Canada's tallest building, in 1976.  The company expanded to New York and Tokyo and by the mid-1980s it was the largest developer in the world, and the Reichmanns were one of the world's richest families.

His success had little impact on Paul Reichmann's lifestyle.  He remained very private and unwilling to talk to the press.  He retained his strong religious views, and used much of his fortune to support his religion.  In Toronto he built a number of schools and Sabbath and all holy days.

==Troubles==
The company ran into severe trouble in the early 1990s.  It was due in part to a general decline in the world economy, but the company was truly brought low by the Canary Wharf project. It was the world's largest property development, but remained half empty.  Reichmann had taken the project as a major gamble.  He had been impressed by Margaret Thatcher's reforms and obtained a personal promise from her that she would help the project, most importantly by extending the London Underground to reach it.

In Canada, Reichmann's once sterling reputation also began to suffer.  In 1985 the company had bought Gulf Canada in a deal that included some $300 million in tax breaks.  Many Canadians were infuriated that a massive corporation had been given such a lucrative deal.  ''Toronto Life'' magazine also published a highly critical article on the Reichmanns.  The family took offence at allegations that Samuel Reichmann had aided the Nazis with illegal smuggling operations during the Second World War.  The family sued the magazine for an unprecedented $109 million.  They were successful, and ''Toronto Life'' published a full retraction, but their heavy fisted response soured many in the Canadian media to the Reichmanns.

'''Paul Moshe Reichmann''' (né en 1930 à Vienne) est un homme d'affaires de nationalité canadienne et le personnage principal d'une famille ayant imprimé sa marque à de grands projets immobiliers à la fin du .

== Les origines familiales == 

La famille Reichmann est originaire de ultra-orthodoxe de la ville. 

Par un hasard incroyable, la famille est en dehors de Vienne au moment de Anschluss en 1938; tous seront ainsi sauvés et ils partiront pour Paris puis pour Tanger au Maroc où Samuel s'installe comme banquier alors que Rénée, la mère de Paul, s’occupe d’œuvres charitables pour sauver un maximum de juifs d’Europe de l’Est. 

Paul fait des études brillantes dans plusieurs écoles talmudiques entre l’Angleterre et Israël pour devenir rabbin. Mais dès qu’il obtient son diplôme, il décide de partir rejoindre son frère Edouard à Montréal qui a commencé une petite entreprise d’immobilier avec ses deux autres frères (Albert et Raph).

== Les succès en Amérique du Nord == 

Dès leur arrivée au Canada, Paul et Albert partent créer une branche à Toronto. La ville connaît dans les années 60 une croissance rapide en tant que centre financier du Canada.  Il fonde en 1964 la compagnie Olympia & York qui restera le nom du futur empire immobilier de la famille. 

Le premier grand projet confié à O&Y est le "First Canadian Place" (un building de plus de 70 étages, le plus grand du Canada à l’époque). Puis Paul se tourne vers New York qui dans les années 70 est en pleine crise de l’immobilier. Il rachète pour 300 millions de dollars d’actifs à une société en banqueroute pour les revendre 6 ans plus tard pour 3 milliards. Il développe le complexe de Battery Park sous le nom de World Financial Center (il s’agit d’une dizaine de gratte-ciels qui entoure le World Trade Center au niveau de Wall Street) qui sera inauguré au début des années 80. 

En 1985, le gouvernement canadien fait appel à Reichmann pour maintenir sous pavillon canadien la compagnie pétrolière Gulf. Reichmann accepte mais il demande en contrepartie un rabais fiscal de plusieurs centaines de millions de dollars. Le dossier est éventé par la presse de Toronto qui se met alors à brûler ce qu’elle avait adoré. Un article très polémique parait alors sur les origines de la fortune de Samuel Reichmann qui aurait trafiqué avec les nazis depuis Tanger. Paul répond avec véhémence à ce qu'il nomme de la diffamation. Il obtient les excuses de la presse mais aussi un fort ressentiment des journalistes qui feront tout pour le détruire par la suite.

== Canary Wharf : Grandeur et Décadence == 