Former real estate titan Paul Reichmann has died in Toronto at the age of 83.

He was once the head of the largest real estate development company in the world – which went bankrupt in 1992.

The reclusive Reichmann brothers built Olympia & York into a major international development firm after starting out as a small company  marketing flooring and tile in Toronto.

The five Reichmann brothers were the sons of Orthodox Hungarian Jews – who fled central Europe during the Second World War.

Older brother Edward started a small company in Toronto and Paul Reichmann was the force who parlayed it into a global real estate empire.

Their developments included First Canadian Place in Toronto, the World Financial Center (right next to the World Trade Center in New York), and Canary Wharf in London.