Paul Desmarais Jr.

Paul Desmarais Jr.
OC OQ
Born (1954-07-03) July 3, 1954
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater
Occupation Businessperson
Known for Chairman and Co-CEO of Power Corporation of Canada
Home town Montreal, Quebec
Spouse(s) Hélène Desmarais
Children Paul Desmarais III
Parent(s) Paul Desmarais Sr.
Jacqueline Maranger
Relatives André Desmarais (brother)

Paul Desmarais Jr. OC OQ (born July 3, 1954) is a Canadian businessman in his hometown of Montreal.

He is the eldest son of Paul Desmarais Sr. and Jacqueline (Maranger) Desmarais. Currently he is the Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation of Canada.

Desmarais was born in Sudbury, Ontario. He was educated at Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Ontario, McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is a Roman Catholic.[1]

Paul Desmarais is married to Hélène Desmarais, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM).[2] They have four children: Paul, Alexandre, Nicolas, and Charles-Édouard.

Career

Paul Desmarais Jr. began his career with S.G. Warburg & Co. in London, England, and with Standard Brands Incorporated in New York. He then joined Power Corporation of Canada in 1981 and assumed the position of Vice-President the following year. In 1984, he led the creation of Power Financial Corporation. Desmarais served as Vice-President of Power Financial from 1984 to 1986, as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1986 to 1989, as Executive Vice Chairman from 1989 to 1990, as Executive Chairman from 1990 to 2005, as Chairman of the Executive Committee from 2006 to 2008 and as Executive Co-Chairman from 2008 until today.[3]

He also served as Vice-Chairman of Power Corporation from 1991 to 1996. He was named Chairman and Co-CEO of Power Corporation in 1996.[4]

In August 2016, the Wall Street Journal stated that Paul Desmarais Jr. and his brother André “are readying their 34-year-old sons (Paul Desmarais III and Olivier Desmarais) to take over Power Corp”.[5]

Board memberships

  • Power Corporation and Power Financial
  • Great-West Lifeco Inc. and its major subsidiaries
  • IGM Financial Inc. and its major subsidiaries
  • Pargesa Holding SA
  • Groupe Bruxelles Lambert
  • LafargeHolcim SA
  • SGS

He was Vice-Chairman of the Board and a Director of Imerys (France) from 1998 until 2008 and a Director of GDF Suez (France), a multinational corporation that is a world leader in the water utilities sector, from 2008 until 2014. He was also a director of Total until 2017.

He is also Chair, Board of Governors of the Conference of Montreal.[6]

Philanthropic activities

Paul Desmarais Jr. is involved with Centraide of Greater Montréal; he founded the Major Donors Circle in 1997 and had been its Honorary Chairman for many years, until 2017.[7] He is also one of the Honorary Chairs of the Healing More Better campaign of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.[8]

In 2014 Desmarais participated in a ski expedition to the North Magnetic Pole, organized by True Patriot Love, Canada’s largest charity supporting military families. The goal of the expedition was to raise awareness of the physical and mental injuries that continue to impact Canadian soldiers.[9]

Desmarais was Co-Chair of the “A Force of Nature” national campaign of Nature Conservancy Canada from April 1, 2007 to December 31, 2012. The national campaign raised more than $500 million and protected 752,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of at-risk natural habitat across Canada, home to more than 145 species at risk.[10]

Honors

  • In 1992, he received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal[11]
  • In 1994, he received the 'Insigne d'Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne' in Belgium[12]
  • In 2002, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal[13]
  • In 2005, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada[14]
  • In 2005, he received the Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business[15]
  • In 2005, he was honored by the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal as a “Great Montrealer”[16]
  • In 2006, he received a Doctorat Honoris Causa from the Université Laval[17]
  • In 2008, he received a Doctorat Honoris Causa from the Université de Montréal
  • In 2009, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec[18]
  • In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal[19] and was named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in France[20]

References

  1. ↑ Like father, like sons?, The Globe and Mail, May 25, 2006.
  2. ↑ http://www.ceim.org/en/
  3. ↑ http://www.powercorporation.com/en/governance/board-directors/#paul-desmarais-jr
  4. ↑ http://www.powercorporationhistory.com/en/1990-2000/
  5. ↑ Das, Anupreeta; Mackrael, Kim (2016-08-22). "Canada's Desmarais Clan: A New Generation Takes Control". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  6. ↑ "Board of Governors – IEFA". forum-americas.org. Archived from the original on 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  7. ↑ http://www.centraide-mtl.org/fr/a-propos/benevoles-de-la-campagne/cabinet-des-grands-donateurs/
  8. ↑ http://www.fondation-sainte-justine.org/en/the-foundation/healing-more-better-campaign/campaign-team
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXH_0gJnVuU
  10. ↑ http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/what-we-do/a-force-for-nature-campaign/#.VcEQgWFzY5s Archived 2015-10-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ https://www.insead.edu/about/leadership/paul-desmarais-jr
  12. ↑ https://www.insead.edu/about/leadership/paul-desmarais-jr
  13. ↑ http://www.gg.ca/honours.aspx?ln=desmarais&pg=2
  14. ↑ https://www.insead.edu/about/leadership/paul-desmarais-jr
  15. ↑ https://aib.msu.edu/awards/executives.asp
  16. ↑ http://grandsmontrealais.ccmm.qc.ca/en/26/
  17. ↑ https://www2.ulaval.ca/notre-universite/prix-et-distinctions/doctorats-honoris-causa-de-luniversite-laval/recipiendaires-doctorat-honoris-causa-2006-2007.html
  18. ↑ http://www.ordre-national.gouv.qc.ca/membres/resultats.asp?action=recherche&page=1&nom=desmarais&x=58&y=12
  19. ↑ http://www.gg.ca/honours.aspx?ln=desmarais&pg=2
  20. ↑ "Board of Governors - International Economic Forum of the Americas". International Economic Forum of the Americas. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.