Paul Desmarais Jr. height - How tall is Paul Desmarais Jr.?

He also served as Vice-Chairman of Power Corporation from 1991 to 1996. He was named Chairman and Co-CEO of Power Corporation in 1996. On February 13, 2020, Paul Desmarais Jr. retired from the Co-CEO role and continues to play an active role in the governance of Power Corporation as Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Paul Desmarais is married to Hélène Desmarais, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM). They have four children: Paul, Alexandre, Nicolas, and Charles-Édouard.

In August 2016, the Wall Street Journal stated that Paul Desmarais Jr. and his brother André “are readying their 34-year-old sons (Paul Desmarais III and Olivier Desmarais) to take over Power Corp”.

In 2014 Desmarais participated in a ski expedition to the North Magnetic Pole, organized by True Patriot Love, Canada’s largest charity supporting military families. The goal of the expedition was to raise awareness of the physical and mental injuries that continue to impact Canadian soldiers.

Desmarais was Co-Chair of the “A Force of Nature” national campaign of Nature Conservancy Canada from April 1, 2007 to December 31, 2012. The national campaign raised more than $500 million and protected 752,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of at-risk natural habitat across Canada, home to more than 145 species at risk.

He was Vice-Chairman of the Board and a Director of Imerys (France) from 1998 until 2008 and a Director of GDF Suez (France), a multinational corporation that is a world leader in the water utilities sector, from 2008 until 2014. He was also a director of Total until 2017.

Paul Desmarais Jr. is involved with Centraide of Greater Montréal; he founded the Major Donors Circle in 1997 and had been its Honorary Chairman for many years, until 2017. He is also one of the Honorary Chairs of the Healing More Better campaign of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation.

Paul Desmarais Jr. began his career with S.G. Warburg & Co. in London, England, and with Standard Brands Incorporated in New York. He then 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. Desmarais served as Vice-President of Power Financial from 1984 to 1986, as President and Chief Operating Officer 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.

Paul Desmarais Jr. OC OQ (born July 3, 1954) is a Canadian businessman in his hometown of Montreal.