kyle washington yacht

Alison Bate

Writer, editor and journalist, kyle washington: the prince of tides.

Kyle Washington, eldest son in Dennis Washington's family empire, pictured in 2003

He dines with Muhammad Ali, has a James Bond-pad, and oh yeah, runs a $400-million shipping empire.

By Alison Bate, BC Business magazine, Cover story, June 2003 (updated Sept. 2022)

Kyle Washington is just back from Dallas, where he’s been checking out the price of helicopters.

The 33-year-old bachelor got his helicopter pilot’s licence in December and is eager to put his skills to the test.

He has all the trappings of a wealthy playboy: luxurious pad in Vancouver’s West End, use of the family’s private fishing lodge on Stuart Island, windsurfing shack in Maui, and the disposable cash to flit around North America with enviable ease.

Washington is unashamedly rich, but even he balks at the million-dollar price tag of new machines and is leaning toward leasing one for now.

He’s the eldest son in the Washington family empire, controlled by  Dennis Washington , the Montana-based construction, real estate and transportation magnate who started the business in 1964.  The Washington Companies  now employ 40,000 people in 38 countries, placing him 236 on Forbes Magazine’s 2003 list of the world’s richest people, with an estimated fortune of US$1.7 billion. Kyle’s kingdom, or Washington Marine Group, is part of that pie.

UPDATES (as of May 2022): There have been many changes since I wrote this article, but the core businesses remain. Kyle Washington is currently executive chair of   Seaspan Marine, the Canadian-based maritime company formerly Washington Marine Group. Seaspan Corp. , formerly Seaspan Container Lines, is the separate publicly-traded containership division, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp., headquartered in Hong Kong and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Locally, Kyle Washington is known as the guy who bought the three PacifiCat fast ferries for the rock bottom price of $19 million at auction in March 2003. They’ve since been sold and moved out of the country.

The Washington empire has already pumped at least half-a-billion dollars into B.C. in the last nine years, set up an international container shipping company, and is still looking to expand. It may bid for Vancouver Wharves, the North Shore bulk terminal put up for sale by BCR Group last year (Now owned and operated by  Pembina Pipeline Corporation ).

If it does acquire the Wharves, don’t look for too many announcements to be made. When its subsidiary Seaspan Container Lines signed the order in 2003 for five of the world’s biggest container ships, barely a word was uttered. Why the low profile? To Washington, the answer is simple; it’s not a public entity, it doesn’t need the hype. But that doesn’t mean Washington doesn’t have a very demanding stakeholder.

“We still have one shareholder to impress, trust me,” he says. How easy is it to impress Dennis Washington? “It’s not,” his son says firmly.

Conversations with Washington are more likely to veer toward his passions for snowmobiling and flying than his marine companies. “Everyone expects a business person to be very serious, and Kyle’s not like that. He’s the opposite of arrogant,” says Graham Porter, vice president of Seaspan Container Lines (He left Seaspan in 2017 ).

Washington’s a charismatic guy. He’ll talk openly about making a disastrous deal in a non existent gold mine, and he’s quick to call the Americans “a bunch of babies” when discussing the softwood lumber dispute, but ask him about the love life of a rich, handsome bachelor with a ritzy West End penthouse, and all you’ll get is a wink.

Certainly, his pad overlooking Coal Harbour shows no signs of a regular female companion. The lair is worthy of James Bond. A classy pool table, hidden TV screen that pops out at the press of a button, hammered-metal ceiling, zebra-striped carpet in his bedroom, and a giant painting by Montana artist  Lane Timothy  of one of his all-time idols, boxer Muhammad Ali. He flew down to Phoenix recently to have dinner with the former heavyweight champ, and had him sign the painting. Washington moved in here about two years ago, after living in an apartment on Beach Avenue for several years.

“We spent two years building this thing. It’s pretty cool,” he says. The apartment includes several other Lane Timothy paintings, such as a collage of the Canadian and U.S. flags that expresses Washington’s love of both countries.

It’s designed for entertaining, with an informal conference area, unusual glass table inlaid with a nautical map of the Stuart Island region, outside patio with panoramic views, and his favorite room: a huge steam bath and shower capable of accommodating a crowd.

Apart from hosting parties for his buddies, Washington signs deals here and entertains marine executives, politicians and the International Olympic Committee. Carrying the Washington name means he is always working, always an ambassador, he says, although he’s very comfortable in the role. Asked what it’s like not to have to worry about money, Washington replies: “There’s no question it’s a benefit, but it does come with responsibilities. I’d take it over not.”

Passion for winter sports

A former professional ski-jumper, Washington was one of the first to jump the new Olympic ski-jump facility in Salt Lake City, which opened up three years before the main event last year. He chairs the organizing committee of the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships, being held at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre in November, and he’s heavily involved in promoting the Vancouver Whistler Olympics 2010 successful bid.

Outside his window, one of the company barges has been adorned with a huge placard supporting the Vancouver Whistler bid. Washington works closely with former Olympic silver medallist Charmaine Crooks, a member of the IOC, and co-chair of his organizing committee for the weightlifting championships. They have been friends for more than four years and often work out in the gym together. “He’s a Montana guy – very down-to-earth and grass roots orientated, and he keeps that humble spirit,” she says of her friend.

His passion for winter sports is a holdover from his youth in Missoula, a town tucked in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana. There he played football and skied, moving into professional ski jumping when he was 14. “I goofed around with that for a little while, until I was 28,” Washington says. “I was fair. I was real middle-of-the-pack. It was kind of a weekend thing, you know, while you are going to school. Bust out there on a Thursday and come back Sunday night or Monday.”

Washington bounced around various U.S. colleges, looking for the best ski conditions. His search eventually took him to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Asked if he ever stepped foot in the library, he laughs. “My dad said: ‘I don’t care what you study, I don’t care where you go, just get out in five years.’ ”

Tiring of the powder in Utah, Washington switched schools, returned to his hometown, got help studying, and finished up with a B.A. in finance from the University of Montana in 1994.

He’s still very close to his parents, who live in Palm Springs, California in the winter, and split their time between Montana and B.C.’s Stuart Island in the summer. Brother Kevin, two years younger than Kyle, is also active in the family business.

Started out at Cates

When Washington graduated, his dad owned just one company in B.C., the tugboat firm of C.H. Cates & Sons. Cates’s tugs are best seen from Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, sitting outside the market café. These are the sturdy little harbor tugs that help ships to dock, a David and Goliath affair. They scurry out to greet new ships arriving in port, nudging and pushing the big vessels safely into their berths.

Kyle was sent up to Cates at the age of 24, and spent the next 18 months learning the ropes, more on land than water. The tug guys were great, says Washington. While the marine scene was new to him, he grew up around construction workers and found them much of a kind. “They’re all the same kind of guy, and I hope I am. Work hard, play hard. They’re guy’s guys.”

However, in 1996 the prospect of investing in a potential gold mine in Utah lured him to the financial hubs of London, Paris, Zurich and Geneva. He laughs today, but admits the memory still makes him nauseous. “I got involved in the typical Vancouver thing. Got into a mining deal, thought there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So I ran around Europe raising money for this mining deal that was a total disaster. Basically, I blew my brains out on that.”

Dennis Washington’s reaction to this investing escapade? “Now you’ve got your master’s degree.”

Expanding empire

Washington says his dad gave him an opportunity to redeem himself in 1997 by finding a role for him in his rapidly expanding B.C. empire. Having bought Norsk Pacific in 1995, Dennis Washington added Seaspan International a year later. The acquisition included the Seaspan subsidiaries now called Vancouver Shipyards, Vancouver Drydock and Victoria Shipyards.

Seaspan International (now Seaspan ULC) could more accurately be called Seaspan B.C., for it includes the tugs, barges, log booms and logships familiar to anyone traveling in our coastal waters. From a distance, the barges look like floating houses, drifting quietly across the water. In fact, they are full of wood chips or sawdust being carried from sawmills to pulp and paper mills.

Washington’s role at Seaspan International began as executive assistant to then-president Allen Fowlis, who ran the company for more than 20 years. The following year, Washington took over Fowlis’s job, becoming both president and CEO. The same year, the umbrella name of Washington Marine Group was introduced.

Since then, Washington says he has brought in a new team and integrated five significant marine companies: Seaspan International, Cates, Norsk Pacific, Kingcome Navigation and Delta-based Seaspan Seaspan Ferries Corp. (formerly CPR Coastal Marine Operations). In the process, 36 per cent of combined overheads were eliminated, getting rid of duplicate facilities and staff, including early retirements.

Brent Geen, the company’s chief financial officer, was promoted to president in 2001 to help manage the umbrella company, while Washington added chairman to his list of responsibilities. Geen handles the gritty details, Washington the big picture. “I am definitely a broad strokes kind of guy,” Washington says. (Geen is now CFO of Shearwater Resort & Marina)

In October 2002, Marine Group won a controversial bidding process conducted by B.C. Ferry Corp. (now B.C. Ferry Services) that allowed international tenders for the first time. Washington says the company’s bid to refit the Queen of Coquitlam at Vancouver Drydock was substantially lower than any of the other competitors. “The worst thing that could have happened was to have one of these contracts go offshore,” he says.

Those who do business with Washington say privately that his light-hearted banter masks a good brain and strong entrepreneurial spirit. His main rival, John Cosulich, Canadian area manager for Vancouver-based Rivtow Marine, says: “I find Kyle to be a very charming individual, very clever and very competitive.” ( Rivtow is now part of SAAM Towage Canada )

Birth of Seaspan’s containership company

While the biggest chunk of Kyle’s kingdom is scattered along the North Shore, another hub is growing in downtown Vancouver, involving the three deep-sea shipping companies (Seaspan Container Lines, Seaspan Shipbrokers and Seaspan (Cyprus) Ltd.) that are colloquially known as Seaspan Offshore. At its current pace of acquisitions, it will be one of the world’s top 10 container shipping companies by 2005, owning between 12 and 15 vessels.

The birth of  Seaspan Container Lines (now Seaspan Corp. ) changes the status of the marine group from a largely regional outfit to that of a big league international player. The company is a logical extension to work carried out by two key players at Seaspan Shipbrokers and Seaspan (Cyprus) Ltd., Graham Porter and Gerry Wang, who turned it into the world’s largest independent lessor of containerships. They oversee most of the deals, yet when a good prospect comes their way and passes their smell test, they send it along to Washington ( Update: they’ve since resigned from Seaspan Corp. ).

Drawing from his European barnstorming adventure, Washington’s job has been largely financial, finding the money, and using his charisma and connections to help cement the deals.  

The first deal came in 1999, when Seaspan got together with Israel’s Ofer Brothers Group to place a bulk order for seventeen 4,250-TEU ships with Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. (Container ships are usually described by how many containers or boxes they can carry, measured in TEUs or 20-foot equivalent units.)

Seaspan kept five of the vessels and chartered them to China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) for 10 years. All five are now in service and performing well, says Washington, and some have already called at Vancouver. Under the deal, Seaspan owns the vessels, designs them, gets them built, operates and maintains them. It also arranges for the vessels to show up at whatever port CSCL needs them, while the Chinese company handles the cargo side.

Washington talks to his dad at least every other day, but says he’s left to run things pretty hands-free in B.C. Has he redeemed himself after his initial investing misadventure?

“Yes, I would hope so,” he says. “On the shipyard side, we have had three years in a row of record numbers. And the deep-sea shipping is just going outstanding.” He concedes, though, “We’re battling on the tug and barge side the toughest market that B.C. has ever seen. We’re trying to do our best with costs and stuff.”

The softwood lumber dispute has hit the company hard, causing hundreds of job losses in Seaspan International alone. Washington has harsh words for both U.S. and Canadian governments, saying they’ve handled it abysmally in not reaching a solution, and have cost the province tens of thousands of jobs.

He doesn’t buy into the argument the U.S. government makes, that B.C.’s stumpage system subsidizes our forest industry. “Of course they dislike our system, but are we subsidizing? No. I think they’re a bunch of babies down there, big, tough babies.”

Interesting comments from an American businessman, whose family empire is based largely in the U.S. Asked where his loyalties lie, Washington insists he feels pretty Canadian, having lived up here for nine years. “I look at us as North American, and I understand the differences. There are some great things about the U.S. and there are some great things about Canada, and I just think I’d like to have them both. All the good on both sides – including both holidays.” He laughs.

Vancouver’s my home, he says

Although Washington is a U.S. citizen, he’s almost through the process of getting a Canadian passport. “Vancouver’s my home, and I will be here as long as the good Lord says I’m alive,” he explains. “I just love it. It’s home, looks like home, feels like home. My business is here, my friends are here, it’s got everything that I could ever need.”

One of his best friends, personal trainer Mike Talic, describes watching the Olympic gold medal hockey game with Washington at Salt Lake City last year. The two friends traveled to Utah together and met up with Charmaine Crooks to watch the Olympics. “He was so for Canada, it was unbelievable,” says Talic.

Last year, Washington worked with Talic to build a first-class gym free for his employees. The 3,200-square-foot fitness centre opened in October and already has 300 members. Talic says it’s by far the best gym in town, and he regularly brings his celebrity athletes to train alongside shipyard workers.

Washington, who works out four times a week, says the rehab and training programs have improved the company’s safety record dramatically, and it’s also a good way for people to mix.

When asked what accomplishments he’s most proud of, Washington cites the container shipping deals, adding, in typical fashion, that he’s also pretty pumped about getting his helicopter’s licence.

Washington appears to waltz through life, on his cell phone a lot, difficult to pin down, but totally engaging when he does arrive. On this day, he’s on his way to meet Alistair MacLennan, chairman of  Helijet International, to discuss leasing a helicopter. He knows he’s going to be late. He’ll probably get away with it.

© Alison Bate, 2003 (revised Sept. 2022).

RELATED LINKS: * My post about sailing across the Pacific on a Seaspan containership leased to China Shipping . * Pix of Kyle and wife Janelle at Vancouver Olympics parties (Feb.22, 2010) * Dennis Washington’s super-yacht, the Attessa IV (July 2020) * Profile of Dennis Washington (Forbes magazine) * Seaspan Shipyards names new CEO (Sept. 2022) * Seaspan ferries’ terminals and fleet * Seaspan Corp.’s containership fleet summary * BCBusiness online

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• Pingback: Seaspan wins second prize in massive shipbuilding deal | Alison Bate

Looking for Dennis Washington re new business for Seaspan and financing opportunities

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Who is Dennis Washington? The billionaire who almost bought Ekati mine, again

In the first 3 months of the pandemic, his net worth grew by 13%.

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Dennis Washington, 86, is the wealthiest man in Montana, with a net worth of $6.1 billion US. 

He is the majority interest owner of The Washington Companies, which made a $166 million offer on the N.W.T. 's troubled Ekati Diamond Mine in September. The owner, Dominion Diamond Mines, went into creditor protection in April, saying the COVID-19 pandemic had essentially shut down the diamond industry.

Though Washington's multi-million dollar offer is now a dead deal , CBC News took a look at the billionaire's lengthy business background.

In the first three months of the pandemic Washington's net worth has grown by 13 per cent from $5.5 billion US to $6.2 billion US, states a June 24 news release from Americans for Tax Fairness.

• In Depth Tax breaks may have been at the heart of dead deal for Ekati mine

Profiles of Washington describe him as a self-made billionaire who started out selling newspapers as a teenager and became one of America's most powerful industrialists. 

His portfolio includes a " significant ownership " in Seaspan ULC, through The Washington Companies, which are involved in rail and marine transport, construction and mining, heavy equipment, aviation and real estate development, states the Seaspan website.

His largest asset is Montana Rail Link, reports Bloomberg .

Washington has a hobby refurbishing boats, including one 332-foot luxury yacht named Attessa IV. It recently docked in B.C. for some repairs and flies the Cayman Island flag . 

His business with mines

Washington got his start in the construction business in 1964, according to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. 

In the 1980s, he revived a floundering copper pit mining operation in Butte, and Montana Resources now produces up to 80 million pounds of copper a year and spends $74 million on payroll tax and purchases every year.

Although metal prices have tumbled because of the pandemic, the mine is still in operation . 

He also held mining interests in the state, which he sold or leased to a group of three businessmen who in 1998 were convicted in an offshore investment scam that cheated investors and enriched the executives by $100 million US. 

Washington's interests in the N.W.T.

The N.W.T. government says it is hopeful the purchase of Ekati will get northerners back to work. 

Recently, Dominion Diamond has fired some of the mine's workers , ending their benefits and pension contributions, and withholding information on severance pay. 

Of Ekati's 634 Canadian workers, 40 per cent are northerners (253 people) and within that northern workforce, 151 people are Indigenous. In 2019, it employed 425 contract workers — 150 of them northerners. 

In 2017, The Washington Companies bought all shares in Dominion Diamond Inc. for a total of $1.2 billion US with a $550 million US bond from creditors. 

That purchase represented a 44 per cent premium on Dominion's share price before the merger was announced. 

In 2018, the union representing workers at Ekati accused Dominion of " union busting " by threatening to lay off 150 unionized employees and replace them with contractors. 

The pandemic slowed business down, and in April Dominion was unable to meet a $20-million US interest payment on that bond The Washington Companies used to buy the company.

Filing for creditor protection put Ekati's financial situation on clear display through an affidavit by Dominion's chief financial officer, Kristal Kaye.

There are only two secured creditors for the mine — Credit Suisse AG, a branch located in the Cayman Islands is owed $221 million and Wilmington Trust in Delaware is owed $784 million CDN, a May 5 creditor listing for Dominion shows. 

Dominion Diamond Holdings, a limited liability company, was incorporated in Delaware on Nov. 15, 2019. Its sole shareholder is Washington Diamond Investments, a company controlled by The Washington Companies, court documents show. 

That deal is opposed by Dominion creditors, who say the mine's assets are devalued because of the pandemic. 

Donations to youth, education, Trump

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation is the major philanthropic organization receiving contributions from The Washington Companies and Washington family. It is focused on philanthropy for youth and education. 

• Dominion Diamond owes N.W.T. businesses $13.2M — and there's no guarantee they'll get paid
• N.W.T. government hoping Ekati deal will lead to reopening of mine

"By influencing young people during their formative years and providing opportunity for personal advancement through education, Dennis and Phyllis hope to create a positive and lasting impact on our culture and society," the website reads. 

Washington and his wife Phyllis are also generous donors to Donald Trump's re-election campaign — giving him $1 million since the 2016 campaign.

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Director - The Washington Companies

Kyle r. washington.

Kyle Washington joined the Washington Companies Board of Directors in August 2009, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Canada-based operating companies Seaspan ULC and Southern Railway of British Columbia Limited. A committed and longtime supporter of community philanthropy, Kyle also is Chairman of the Washington Kids Foundation, and on the Board of Directors at APiJet.

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Seaspan chairman handed driving ban after crash near West Vancouver Yacht Club

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Kyle Washington, the executive chairman of Seaspan Corp. — a global shipping company that works out of Vancouver's port — has been handed a three-month driving, ban but avoided a criminal record after pleading guilty to a charge of driving without due care and attention in North Vancouver provincial court. The plea Thursday stemmed from a bizarre incident on the night of Dec. 23, 2014, when Washington smashed his pickup into a wall while leaving the West Vancouver Yacht Club, then ended up driving into a ditch at the nearby Gleneagles Community Centre. Crown prosecutor Sunny Bains said a member of the public called police after seeing Washington drive into the wall, damaging the front axle of his truck. When that person tried to find out if Washington needed help, he refused to speak or roll down the window, she said. Police were then called to the Gleneagles Community Centre, by witnesses who saw Washington drive into the ditch, then continue to rev his engine. The police officer who attended described Washington as “stumbling all over the road” after he was asked to get out of his truck.   Washington was taken back to the West Vancouver police detachment, where he blew breathalyzer blood alcohol readings of .110 and .100. The legal limit is .08. Washington was originally charged with impaired driving and driving with a blood alcohol level over .08. Under an agreement between Crown and defence lawyers, those charges were dropped and Washington pleaded guilty to the less serious Motor Vehicle Act offence. Matthew Nathanson, Washington’s defence lawyer, said his client’s unusual behaviour that night was caused by a reaction to a prescription sleeping pill he’d taken that night. Nathanson said Washington had never taken the drug before and didn’t know how it would affect him. He added some of Washington’s “bizarre behaviour” that night was “totally inconsistent with alcohol” but consistent with a reaction to the sleeping pill he’d taken. He added Washington has very little recollection of what happened. Nathanson noted Washington does significant work in the community, including being involved in foundations that work with at-risk youth and adults and has already completed 20 hours of community work service. “This behaviour is not typical of his character,” he said. Judge Doug Moss handed Washington a $2,000 fine in addition to the three-month driving ban. “In my view, your driving was quite dangerous,” he said. The judge noted Washington only lives a short distance from the yacht club. “You could have walked home,” he said.

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'Super yacht' with Vancouver connection involved in fatal collision at sea

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A luxury superyacht rebuilt several years ago in North Vancouver for the billionaire owner of Washington Marine Group has been involved in a fatal collision at sea near to San Diego.

The collision happened off the west coast on the evening of Oct. 26, about 14 kilometres from San Diego near the United States-Mexico border.

The U.S. Coast Guard received a call from the Attessa IV about 7:45 p.m. advising the 332-foot yacht had collided with a 65-foot sports fishing charter boat, Prowler, and that “Prowler sustained some pretty significant damage to its rear starboard quarter,” said Joel Guzman, public affairs spokesman for the San Diego Coast Guard station.

The Coast Guard launched a Jayhawk helicopter, 45-foot medium response boat and the Coast Guard cutter Sea Otter to the crash site and arrived on scene about 8:45 p.m. where 17 people from the sports fishing charter boat were taken on to the coast guard vessel. Three people were injured, including one man who had critical head injuries, said Guzman.

He was airlifted by helicopter to shore and taken to hospital.

The San Diego medical examiner’s office confirmed 66-year-old Richard Neff of San Clemente later died of those injuries.

Guzman said an investigation is now underway to determine why the ships collided, which includes speaking to everyone on board both vessels at the time of the crash. The investigation could take several months, said Guzman.

There is no word on who was among the 28 people on board the yacht at the time of the collision.

Records of ships’ movements show the Attessa IV left North Vancouver July 8 and travelled down the west coast arriving in San Diego Oct. 15.

The yacht left San Diego following the crash and is now in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Attessa IV, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, is one of the largest privately owned yachts in the world. It was bought in 2007 by Dennis Washington, a U.S. billionaire whose network of companies includes Washington Marine Group and Seaspan Shipyards in North Vancouver, where Kyle Washington, Dennis Washington’s son, is executive chairman.

The mega yacht was extensively rebuilt in a three-year project by Washington Yachting Group in North Vancouver, in the same shed where the three ill-fated Pacificat fast ferries were put together by shipyard workers in the 1990s.

The luxury yacht, which has been featured in a number of yachting and lifestyle magazine articles, features its own on-board helicopter and landing pad, spa, gym and pool, and opulent guest quarters including sculptures by Henry Moore and a hanging glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly.

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Seaspan chairman handed driving ban

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Kyle Washington, the executive chairman of Seaspan Corp., has been handed a three-month driving ban but avoided a criminal record after pleading guilty to a charge of driving without due care and attention Thursday in North Vancouver provincial court.

The plea Thursday stemmed from a bizarre incident on the night of Dec. 23, 2014, when Washington smashed his pickup into a wall while leaving the West Vancouver Yacht Club, then ended up driving into a ditch at the nearby Gleneagles Community Centre.

Crown prosecutor Sunny Bains said a member of the public called police after seeing Washington drive into the wall, damaging the front axle of his truck. When that person tried to find out if Washington needed help, he refused to speak or roll down the window, she said.

Police were then called to the Gleneagles Community Centre, by witnesses who saw Washington drive into the ditch, then continue to rev his engine.

The police officer who attended described Washington as “stumbling all over the road” after he was asked to get out of his truck.

Washington was taken back to the West Vancouver police detachment, where he blew breathalyzer blood alcohol readings of .110 and .100. The legal limit is .08.

Washington was originally charged with impaired driving and driving with a blood alcohol level over .08. Under an agreement between Crown and defence lawyers, those charges were dropped and Washington pleaded guilty to the less serious Motor Vehicle Act offence.

Matthew Nathanson, Washington’s defence lawyer, said his client’s unusual behaviour that night was caused by a reaction to a prescription sleeping pill he’d taken that night. Nathanson said Washington had never taken the drug before and didn’t know how it would affect him.

He added some of Washington’s “bizarre behaviour” that night was “totally inconsistent with alcohol” but consistent with a reaction to the sleeping pill he’d taken. He added Washington has very little recollection of what happened.

Nathanson noted Washington does significant work in the community, including being involved in foundations that work with at-risk youth and adults and has already completed 20 hours of community work service. “This behaviour is not typical of his character,” he said.

Judge Doug Moss handed Washington a $2,000 fine in addition to the three-month driving ban. “In my view, your driving was quite dangerous,” he said.

The judge noted Washington only lives a short distance from the yacht club. “You could have walked home,” he said.

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Kyle Washington

Kyle Washington is the Canadian chair of the Washington Cos., which includes Seaspan ULC and Southern Railway of BC. He is also president, owner and a director of Seaspan. Washington sits on the boards of the Washington Cos. industrial businesses and is co-founder of the New York Stock Exchange-listed Seaspan Corp./Atlas.

HOMETOWN: Missoula, Montana. GREATEST SUCCESS: Aside from my three children, when Washington Kids Foundation opened its doors in North Vancouver and Surrey in 2014. NON-PROFIT CAUSE: Washington Kids Foundation.

College Sports | Stanford hires WSU’s Kyle Smith as men’s…

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College sports | stanford hires wsu’s kyle smith as men’s basketball coach, smith takes over a program in flux as the cardinal will join the acc next season.

The Pac-12’s men’s basketball coach of the year will lead Stanford out of the conference.

Kyle Smith, the coach who took Washington State to the NCAA Tournament this year for the first time in 16 seasons, has been hired to take over the Stanford program. National reporter Jeff Goodman was first to report the news, which the school announced later Monday morning.

Smith’s Cougars eliminated Stanford from the men’s Pac-12 Tournament in the third round two weeks ago, ending Jerod Haase’s tenure in charge of the Cardinal. Washington State beat Drake in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, then fell over the weekend to Iowa State in the second round.

Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir stuck with Jerod Haase for eight seasons as the Cardinal recruited well but never reached the NCAA Tournament during his time in charge. Haase, a former Cal guard, went 126-127 at Stanford.

Smith has ties to the Bay Area, where he was an assistant under Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett and later led San Francisco for three seasons before Washington State hired him away in 2019. His run at USF included three consecutive 20-win seasons In between those Northern California stints, Smith took over Columbia for his first coaching job.

In five seasons leading the Cougars, Smith went 94-71, and this season’s 25-10 result was his best yet despite losing several significant players from last year’s team in the transfer portal.

With the Cougars facing an uncertain future as they attempt to rebuild the Pac-12, Smith is opting for a new challenge as Stanford enters the ACC.

“From my perspective, Stanford has the resources and reputation to attract the ideal student-athlete who is seeking the character development aspects of what our basketball program will offer,” Smith said in a Stanford release. “Stanford has the capacity to provide a place where student-athletes can hone their leadership skills and intellect through hard work and team building.”

Smith will be introduced at a press conference later this week.

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College sports | men’s ncaa tournament winners and losers: the west fails, uconn sizzles, edey shines and n.c. state surprises.

College Sports | Stanford, VanDerveer look ahead to ACC leap next year with Iriafen leading charge

College Sports | Pac-12 survival: Tallying up the cash available for WSU, OSU

College Sports | Stanford’s season, Brink’s career end on fouls in loss to North Carolina State