One of Canada's richest and most influential men Paul Desmarais Sr. Has died, his family announced today. He was 86.
The self-made billionaire transformed an ailing backwoods bus company in northern Ontario into a USD 271 billion global conglomerate, and was a friend to four Canadian prime ministers, as well as Nicolas Sarkozy, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
The white-haired billionaire known for his deal-making skills was a private man. He rarely gave press interviews, preferring instead to invite friends by helicopter to his private, 75-square kilometer estate in Quebec's rural Charlevoix region.
But behind the scenes he sought to shape Canada and beyond, including as the head of Montreal-based investment holding company Power Corp. From 1968 to 1996, managing a portfolio that included insurance firms London Life and Great-West Life, European cement giant Lafarge, oil company Total and wine and spirits maker Pernod Ricard.
Born in 1927 in a French-speaking enclave in Sudbury, an Ontario mining town traditionally ruled by English businessmen, he studied commerce and then law but dropped out of university to run his father's nearly bankrupt bus company.
After reviving the family business, the young Desmarais discovered leveraged buyouts and reverse takeovers, where a smaller company sells itself to a larger one and uses the money to buy the larger company's stock. His Power Corp. Was originally an electric utility holding company that he bought in a reverse takeover.
He branched out into insurance and newspapers, and other sectors from Montreal to Geneva to Hong Kong.
In Europe he partnered with Albert Frere, one of Belgium's richest men.
Desmarais was also very active in public policy through his personal contacts with powerful politicians.
