Paul Desmarais

Biography

Paul Desmarais, Jr. is the member of the SGS Board of Directors. He has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from McGill University, Montréal and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. He has received honorary doctorates from various Canadian universities. He 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 to consolidate Power’s major financial holdings, as well as Pargesa Holding SA, under a single corporate entity. Mr. Desmarais served as Vice-President from 1984 to 1986, as President and Chief Operating Officer of Power Financial 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. He was named Chairman and Co-CEO with Power Corporation in 1996. After Power Financial and the Frère Group of Belgium took control of Pargesa in 1990, Mr. Desmarais moved to Europe from 1990 to 1994 to develop the partnership with the Frère Group and to restructure the Pargesa group. From 1982 to 1990, he was a member of the Management Committee of Pargesa. In 1991, Executive Vice Chairman and then Executive Chairman of the Committee. In 2003, he was appointed Co-Chief Executive Officer and in 2013 named Chairman of the Board. He is a Director of many Power group companies in North America.

Research Interest

 finance, chemical engineering