O Canada! > Canadian > Canadian Chat > Top 10 Richest Canadians

reply to vue666

Re: Top 10 Richest Canadians

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Worth : $4.4B, +3.2%
2011 rank: 7
Based in: Montreal
Company: Power Corp. of Canada

To say that Desmarais is well-connected is an understatement. Three prime ministers — Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, and Paul Martin — have at some point worked at Power Corp., the financial and media powerhouse chaired by Desmarais. His connections extend beyond Canada, too. This summer, Desmarais hosted former French president Nicolas Sarkozy at one of his homes in Quebec.

His powerful friends made Desmarais a target of the hacker collective Anonymous this year, which released a two-hour-long video of a lavish birthday party and gala thrown for his wife, Jacqueline. Guests included Mulroney, Chrétien and George H. W. Bush. A lengthy concert was even performed in Jacqueline’s honour. Jacqueline was apparently a big Al Jolson fan in her youth. “I was a great imitator, in those days, of Al Jolson,” she reminisces during one segment. “And so we used to do all these — blacken our faces, and come down on Sunday mornings and sing ... all those songs.” A singer, in blackface, then performs “Swanee” on stage while the loving couple sings along.

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