Paul Desmarais Jr, MBA'79

Mr. Desmarais joined Power Corporation of Canada in 1981. He helped found Power Financial Corporation in 1984 and became President and Chief Operating Officer in 1986. He was Executive Chairman from 1990 to 2005, Chairman of the Executive Committee from 2005 to 2008 and Executive Co-Chairman from 2008 to 2020. 

He became Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation of Canada in 1996 until his retirement in 2020. Mr. Desmarais remains Chairman of Power Corporation and of Power Financial. Power Financial was founded to consolidate Power’s major financial services holdings, as well as to develop Pargesa Holding SA -- the Swiss company holding Power Financial’s European investments, under a single corporate entity. During the past three decades, Mr. Desmarais has made a significant contribution to expanding Power Financial’s holdings and managing the investment portfolio of Pargesa. He is a a director of many Power Corporation group companies in North America, including Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, IGM Financial, IG Wealth Management and Mackenzie. In Europe, he is Chairman of the Board of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. He was a director of Putnam Investments, Empower, SGS, LafargeHolcim, Total, GDF Suez and Imerys.

Mr. Desmarais is a member of the International Council of INSEAD (former Board member), Chairman of the Board of governors of the International Economic Forum of the Americas, and a Senior Trustee of the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Institution (former Co-chair of the International Advisory Board). He is also a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Global Advisory Council of Harvard, and a member of the Business Council of Canada (former Chairman). 

In 1994, he received the Insigne d'Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne in Belgium. In 2005, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and he received the Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business. In 2009, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 2012, he was named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in France. In 2022, he was inducted into the Order of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. He holds a number of Honorary Doctorates.

He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University and an MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), France.