Paul Desmarais III
Paul Desmarais III is the Chairman and CEO of Sagard, an alternative asset management platform active in venture capital, private equity, private credit, healthcare royalties and private wealth.
Paul took the helm of Sagard in 2016, along with a handful of close partners bound by a common vision: partnering with entrepreneurs to catalyze transformation in our investments and communities. In five years, Sagard has experienced outstanding growth, with assets under management increasing eightfold to over $8B, more than 120 professionals joining its ranks, and over 50 companies added to the portfolio.
Paul is dedicated to helping build a better business world. He is Co-Founder of the Black Wealth Club, where emerging Black leaders go to learn about creating wealth and reinvesting it in their communities. Under Paul’s leadership, Sagard has committed to a more sustainable financial system by becoming a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, enlisting as a CREO participant, and embarking on its journey to carbon neutrality. Paul will also co-chair the Centraide (United Way) campaign in 2022.
Paul is a board member of the Glenbow Museum and Alpine Canada and serves as Chair to the Next Canada Emeritus board of advisors. He is a recipient of the Duke of Edinborough Award for his work chairing the fundraising campaign for the Kenojuak Culture Center. He was formerly a board member of the Rideau Hall Foundation. Paul also co-founded Young Canadians in Finance and co-chaired the True Patriot Love Expedition to the magnetic North Pole.
Q&A with Paul
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I have had an incredibly enriching experience in co-founding the Black Wealth Club, and we thought we may be able to create opportunities for connection between Indigenous leaders as well. These are, of course, very different communities. Still, our purpose was similar: find talented young business people, connect them to each other and accomplished mentors, facilitate opportunities, exchange advice, organize relevant content and events, and advance their trajectory wherever possible. In my experience, the energy, dynamism and kinship that develop from connecting interesting people can lead to positive and mutually beneficial outcomes.
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We look forward to seeing the ILC grow and take a life of its own. I hope the relationships created through the ILC will be long-lasting, and I am particularly excited to see the progress of our alumni in the years and decades to come.
If you are an ambitious, accomplished business leader or entrepreneur reading this, reach out to us to be a part of our second cohort! We are looking for a broad and diverse range of First Nations, Metis and Inuit individuals representing all corners of the country, genders, orientations and nations.