Mr. Desmarais is Chairman of Power Corporation of Canada and of Power Financial Corporation. He is a director of many Power Corporation group companies in North America, including Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, IGM Financial, IG Wealth Management and Mackenzie. In Europe, he is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert.

Mr. Desmarais is a member of the International Council of INSEAD (former Board member), Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Economic Forum of the Americas, and a Senior Trustee of the International Advisory Council of the Brookings Institution (former Co-chair of the International Advisory Board). He is also a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Global Advisory Council of Harvard, and a member of the Business Council of Canada (former Chairman).

He holds a number of Honorary Doctorates. He has received the Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of International Business, the Insigne d’Officier de l’Ordre de la Couronne of Belgium, and the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in France. He is also an Officer of the Order of Canada, and an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec. In 2022, he was inducted into the Order of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Desmarais is active in a number of community and business organizations. He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University and an MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), France.