In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 4 January 1927
- Died
- 8 October 2013
- Birthplace
- Sudbury, Ontario
- Country
- Canada
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Control and development of Power Corporation
- Early business
- Family transport company, 1951
- Power control
- Acquired in 1968
- Management transition
- Chair/CEO succession on 10 May 1996
Why this life matters
His career distinguishes founding an enterprise, acquiring control and preparing a management succession within a long-lived business group.
Timeline
Key moments
Sudbury birth
Born on 4 January.
Transport business
Took on the family’s Sudbury transport enterprise.
Power Corporation
Acquired control of an existing public company.
Management succession
Relinquished chair and CEO responsibilities while retaining other roles.
Death
Died at Sagard, Quebec, on 8 October.
A family transport company in northern Ontario
Paul Guy Desmarais was born in Sudbury, Ontario, on 4 January 1927. He studied commerce at the University of Ottawa and law at Osgoode Hall before turning to the family’s struggling transport business. The obituary and his own 1996 shareholder address connect the start of his business career with that Sudbury enterprise in 1951.
His business developed through bus operations and combinations with other transport interests. Power’s historical account identifies a 1960 controlling interest in Provincial Transport, later called Voyageur. The experience involved assembling operating businesses and finance before his name became associated with a much larger holding company.
Control of an existing corporation
In 1968 Desmarais acquired control of Power Corporation. He did not found it: the company had been organized in 1925 around electric-power investments. By the time of his arrival, the nationalization of power facilities had changed the setting for its original business.
Over subsequent decades the group developed financial, industrial and communications interests in North America and abroad. Power’s historical account describes an emphasis on cash flow, controlling positions in a limited number of substantial holdings, and the performance of operating subsidiaries. The movement from local transport to an international group required relationships with managers and partners across different industries.
A planned succession with roles left intact
The original 10 May 1996 annual-meeting address provides a precise record of his management transition. Desmarais said it was his last meeting as chairman and chief executive, a position he had held since 1968. His sons Paul Jr. and André would share the leadership through their respective roles.
He also specified what would continue: he remained chairman of the executive committee, a director and principal shareholder. Leaving daily management was therefore different from ending every connection with the company. The address credited directors and employees, including Peter Curry, and presented succession as a process prepared over several years.
Public institutions and a national outlook
Desmarais’s business activity was accompanied by cultural, educational and public involvement. He served as chancellor of Memorial University and helped establish the Business Council on National Issues and the Canada-China Business Council. His family obituary also describes support for arts, music, education and community organizations.
In his 1996 address he spoke about French-Canadian identity and business across regional and national boundaries. Those were his expressed convictions, not independent evidence that every company action advanced a public purpose. He died at Sagard, Quebec, on 8 October 2013. The surviving record shows an entrepreneur who moved from transport to corporate control and continued institutional work after a carefully defined transfer of management.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Paul Desmarais Sr.
- Did Paul Desmarais found Power Corporation in 1968?
- No. He acquired control of a company founded in 1925.
- Did he leave every company role in 1996?
- No. The address says he retained the executive-committee chairmanship, a directorship and a principal shareholding while transferring chair and CEO responsibilities.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Hélène Desmarais
Read another member of the wider family’s distinct business and institutional career.
- Prem Watsa
Compare a different Canadian holding-company organizer.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Desmarais family / Power CorporationPaul Guy Desmarais, 1927–2013: family obituary
The name distinguishes Paul Guy Desmarais from Paul Jr.and later generations. Family memorial claims of exceptional influence or integrity are not independently audited.
- 2. Paul Desmarais / Power CorporationChairman’s Address to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 10 May 1996
Selected original pages 1–3 establish the 10 May 1996 transition and continuing roles. Full financial statements and later implementation are not claimed read.
- 3. Power Corporation corporate history1968 to 1980: An entrepreneur takes control
The company history is read through its actual indexed original text because direct retrieval returned 403;not every underlying annual report was inspected.