Eric Sprott was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1944. After completing his undergraduate degree at Carleton University and earning his designation as a Chartered Accountant, Eric entered the investment industry as a research analyst at Merrill Lynch. In 1981, he founded Sprott Securities Inc. (SSI), which became one of Canada's largest independently owned institutional brokerage firms. In 2000, Eric divested his entire ownership of SSI to its employees and chose to focus his sole attention on the investment management business and he formed Sprott Asset Management. In 2006, Eric was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Ontario.

Eric's approach to philanthropy is straightforward. He wants to help society change for the better. He is also constantly studying how to best serve his community through the foundation's philanthropic donations. He believes that "the world needs true leadership to deal with unrecognized problems." It is his hope that through the work of The Sprott Foundation, pressing social concerns can be addressed in progressive and thoughtful ways.

Eric sites two donations as being extremely significant to him. The first was a donation to The Canadian Hunger Foundation due to the dramatic impact it had on the people in Africa who were helped. The second was his donation to Carleton University. Eric saw this commitment to his alma mater as contributing to the permanent improvement of the university for students who might otherwise not be able to afford their education.

In his spare time, Eric enjoys golfing at destinations around the world and collecting antiques, with a special interest in coins and rare books.