1847, and George joined them in 1850. For the next twelve years George worked for his cousin, who left him the business after his death in 1862. George made his brother, Francis, a partner and eventually sold the business to him and Andrew Robertson in 1867. By 1864, he had been elected to the Montreal Board of Trade, a clear sign of his early success, and by 1866 he was running his own successful wool-importing company while also investing in other textile businesses. Driven by a desire to succeed, coupled with a strong work ethic, he was already demonstrating an unusual business acumen. In 1866, he started to work closely with his first cousin, Donald Smith (later Lord Strathcona). The two were to become partners in a myriad of ventures which made them both a fortune. One of their first investments was in 1868, when they formed a partnership with Richard B. Angus and Andrew Paton to establish the Paton (Textile) Manufacturing Company of Sherbrooke. By the late 1860s, Stephen had become one of the foremost financiers in Montreal, forming boards and working alongside Montreal's most prominent business names. By 1873, he had become a director of the Bank of Montreal, and three years later he was elected president, in which capacity he frequently traveled to London and New York City to meet with the leading financiers there. He remained as president until 1881, resigning to turn his full attention to running the company that would build the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was elected to the Montreal Board of Trade in July 1864 as a successful businessman. Stephen had begun investing in railways and formed the Canada Rolling Stock Company in 1870. Railroads In 1877, his cousin Donald Smith introduced him to James Hill, which led to the establishment of George Stephen & Associates, one of the most profitable partnerships in the history of North American railways. The associates were Hill, Smith, Hill's business partner Norman Kittson, and John Stewart Kennedy, an investment banker from Scotland active in New York. They were later joined by two more Montrealers, R.B. Angus and Duncan McIntyre. Hill was to commission the Swiss-born American portrait painter Adolfo Muller-Ury to paint his portrait in London in 1898 – along with that of his cousin Strathcona – and until 2008 Mount Stephen's portrait hung in the railroad offices of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in