André Desmarais

Early life

Born on October 26, 1956, in Ottawa, Ontario, André Desmarais is the youngest son of Paul Desmarais Sr. and Jacqueline Desmarais. André attended Lakefield College School and Selwyn House School before enrolling at Concordia University in Montreal, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce.

According to Canadian Who’s Who, the Desmarais family is the closest thing Canada has to royalty, deeply involved as they are in business, public affairs, and international matters. That being the case, André was consistently exposed to leadership and civic responsibility from an early age.

Career

After concluding his formal education, André Desmarais began his career at Campeau Corporation in 1979 before moving on to become special assistant to the Minister of Justice of Canada from 1980 to 1981. Between 1981 and 1982, he worked at Richardson Greenshields Ltd. as an institutional investment counsellor.

The following year, he joined the family business, Power Corporation of Canada. As the years passed, he took on important executive leadership roles across its various subsidiaries, including President and Chief Operating Officer of Gesca Ltée and Chairman and CEO of Power Broadcasting Inc.

In 1996, he became President and, along with his brother Paul Desmarais Jr., Co-Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation. André Desmarais held these positions until his retirement in 2020. During his tenure in these top leadership roles, he expanded the company’s operations internationally, including expanding its operations into China, even going so far as to become the founding chairman of the Canada China Business Council. He also played a central role in forwarding ventures such as Power Sustainable Capital, a global alternative asset manager, and the company’s substantial investment in Rockefeller Capital Management.

Desmarais sits on the boards of numerous group companies, including Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, IGM Financial, Mackenzie, and Empower, and has held board positions in global organizations such as Pargesa in Europe and CITIC Pacific in Asia. He also participates in international advisory and trade councils, including the Canada China Business Council and the Trilateral Commission.

Over the course of his long career, André Desmarais has received several honours and distinctions recognizing his business leadership and contributions to public life. He has been appointed a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the National Order of Québec. He was also awarded honorary doctorates from Concordia University and McGill University, among other venerated education institutions. More recently, in 2022, Desmarais was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Also a committed philanthropist, Desmarais has major contributions—both organizational and financial—to Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal Children’s Hospital, Concordia University, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Canadian Cancer Society, to name only a handful. He also serves as Chairman of the Fondation Baxter & Alma Ricard, which provides support for a rainbow of artistic, cultural, and social programs throughout Canada.

He is married to France Chrétien Desmarais, the daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Together, they established the France and André Desmarais Fellowships to support graduate students at Concordia University.

Net Worth

Although Maclean’s magazine estimated the net worth of the Desmarais family to be approximately $9.96 billion CAD in 2024, the individual net worth of André Desmarais is not a matter of public record.