Vincenzo Guzzo

Vincenzo Guzzo OMRI SMOM[1] (Italian pronunciation: [vinˈtʃɛntso ˈɡuttso]; born 11 June 1969) is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and television personality. He currently serves as CEO of Cinémas Guzzo, Groupe Guzzo Construction inc., Guzzo Medical and Guzzo Hospitality. He has become also a restaurateur with the opening of a chain of Neapolitan pizzerias called Giulietta in Montreal. He and his wife raise money for charities through the Guzzo Family Foundation. Guzzo was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, he was knighted by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and is a member of the Order of Malta.[1]

Vincenzo Guzzo

OMRI SMOM
Guzzo in 2015
Born (1969-06-11) 11 June 1969
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Other names"Mr. Sunshine"
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • Italy
Alma materWestern University
UQAM (Université de Québec à Montréal)
Known forCinémas Guzzo
Dragons' Den
Spouse(s)
Annie Claude De Paoli (m. 1996⁠–⁠2005)

Maria Farella Guzzo (m. 2007)
Children5
Parent(s)Angelo Guzzo
Rosetta Rubino Guzzo
WebsiteMr. Sunshine

Guzzo received national attention in 2018 when he joined the cast of the CBC Television business reality show Dragons' Den as one of the investor "Dragons" in season 13 and season 14.

Early life and education

Guzzo was born on 11 June 1969 in Montreal, the only son of Italian immigrants.[2] Guzzo attended Selwyn House School,[3] a private boys' school in Westmount, Quebec where his classmates included Greg Fergus and Michael Penner.[4] A 19 September 2018 profile in the Montreal Gazette talks about his early life:

As a student at Selwyn House School, Guzzo would do his homework in his father’s office at the movie theatre. He later worked as an usher, and then in other capacities in the business.[1]

He studied economics at Western University in London, Ontario and law at UQAM. (Université de Québec à Montréal)[1][5]

Business career

Cinémas Guzzo

Guzzo is the president and CEO of Cinémas Guzzo — the largest movie operator in Quebec, with 141 screens and 10 locations, and the third-largest in Canada.[1] His new cinema Méga-Plex St-Jean 12 is currently being built, scheduled to open in 2020.[6]

Cinémas Guzzo was started by his father, Angelo Guzzo, who remains chairman of the board. He came to Canada from Italy in 1967 and worked as a machinist for Pratt & Whitney. In 1974, he bought a movie theatre.[1] Vincenzo Guzzo worked as an usher and in smaller roles as a student, and later joined his father in the family business in 1991. As the chain expanded in the late 1990s and new locations were established, a construction division of Cinémas Guzzo did the building and the younger Guzzo helped in their design.[1]

Other businesses

Vincenzo Guzzo is also CEO for the following companies:

  • Groupe Guzzo Construction Inc.[1][7]
  • Guzzo Hospitality[1]
  • Guzzo Medical Services Inc.[1][8]
  • Cinémas Guzzo Les Films Inc.[9][10]

All of the cinemas owned by Cinémas Guzzo were built by Le Groupe Guzzo Construction Inc.[11] Guzzo also owns a chain of Neapolitan pizzerias called Giulietta.[12]

In May 2019, Guzzo submitted a bid to purchase the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.[13] He later pulled out of the running to buy the team, citing "personal conflicts with people around the deal." [14] Guzzo later tweeted in a series of threads that he did not believe that CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie knew what he was doing during negotiations and acted "in a non transparent way and wasted my time." [15]

Professional activity

He has been President of APCQ (L'Association des propriétaires de cinémas du Québec)—an association of Québec cinema owners—since 2012.[16]

Media

Dragons' Den

Guzzo joined the cast of the CBC Television business reality show Dragons' Den as one of the investor "Dragons" for season 13.[1] According to a Montreal Gazette article:

Guzzo and another new investor, Lane Merrifield, join Dragons Arlene Dickinson, Manjit Minhas, Michele Romanow and Jim Treliving on the show’s 13th season, with host Dianne Buckner. The two replace Joe Mimran and Michael Wekerle.[1]

The first episode of season 13 including the two new "Dragons" Vincenzo Guzzo and Lane Merrifield aired on September 20th 2018. Dragons' Den is a popular Canadian TV show on the CBC Television network, with an average of 519,000 viewers per episode in the 2017-2018 season.[17]

Other media appearances

Vincenzo Guzzo has made the following additional media appearances:

Personal life

Guzzo and his wife Maria have five children (Angelo, Vittorio Emanuele, Vito, Delano and Rossella).[1] Maria heads the Guzzo Family Foundation, founded in 2007, which raises money for the Jewish General Hospital, the Shriners Hospital and Youth Mental Health.[11][21] Guzzo holds both Canadian and Italian citizenships.[1]

The CBC Dragon's Den blog explains:

He and his wife, Maria, are renowned philanthropists, giving generously to numerous hospitals and culminating in the establishment of the Guzzo Family Foundation in 2007, which is aggressively invested in cancer nanotechnology research at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital and McGill University. Guzzo’s contributions have been internationally recognized as he is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, was knighted by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and is a distinguished member of the Order of Malta.[11]  

Guzzo is nicknamed "Mr. Sunshine", and his outfits usually display that with wearing the colour yellow, stating, "Remember something... The sun can be warm and comforting — but if you get too close, it could burn you."[3]

Awards and honours

References
  1. Schwartz, Susan (19 September 2018). "Montreal cinema mogul Vincenzo Guzzo enters the Dragons' Den". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  2. "Society Extra: Vincenzo Guzzo talks Notte in Bianco, Dragons' Den and running for Prime Minister". thesuburban.com. 20 September 2018.
  3. Schwartz, Susan (19 September 2018). "Montreal cinema mogul Vincenzo Guzzo enters the Dragons' Den". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  4. Selwyn House School | Alumni Updates 07-08
  5. "New Montreal Dragon on Dragons Den Vincenzo Guzzo – Montreal Times - Montreal's English Weekly Newspaper". mtltimes.ca. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  6. "Vincent Guzzo: populaire | Marc Cassivi | Entrevues". La Presse (in French). 9 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  7. "LE GROUPE GUZZO CONSTRUCTION INC". www.quebecentreprises.com. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  8. "Federal Corporation Information - 453884-6 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada". www.ic.gc.ca. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  9. "Des primeurs aux cinémas Guzzo? | Marc-André Lussier | Nouvelles". La Presse (in French). 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  10. "CINÉMAS GUZZO INC". www.registreentreprises.gouv.qc.ca. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  11. "Meet new Dragon Vincenzo Guzzo". Blog. Dragons' Den. CBC. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  12. "Montreal theatre chain Guzzo Cinemas eyes expansion to Calgary, Vancouver | CBC News". CBC. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  13. "Vente des Alouettes : Vincent Guzzo met son offre sur la glace". Ici Radio-Canada Tele (in French). May 28, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  14. "Vincenzo Guzzo puts buying Alouettes on hold due to 'personal conflicts with people around the deal' | 3DownNation". May 27, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  15. . June 6, 2019 https://twitter.com/Guzzo_Vincenzo/status/1136743686375710729. Retrieved June 23, 2019. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. "Industrie et exploitation de cinémas - Association des propriétaires de cinémas du Québec". www.apcq.ca. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  17. "New additions to Dragons' Den seek to fan entrepreneurial flames". CBC News. CBC. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  18. "Episode dated 9 February 2014". Tout le monde en parle. Season 10. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  19. ""L'univers culturel de l'entrepreneur Vincenzo Guzzo"". Culture Club. Season 2015-2016. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  20. There's a new dragon in the den and he's breathing fire, January 11, 2019, retrieved 2019-01-14
  21. Suburban, Mike Cohen The (26 September 2018). "Life as a Dragon begins for Vincenzo Guzzo". The Suburban Newspaper. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  22. "Canada's Top 40 Under 40 - Honourees 2002". www.canadastop40under40.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
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