Charles Sirois, (born May 22, 1954) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

businessman. He is the founder, controlling shareholder, chairman and CEO of Telesystem Ltd., a Canadian private equity firm. Effective from March 1, 2017, he has been the CEO and chairman of OnMobile Global Ltd, India In 2011, he co-founded (with

François Legault François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since its founding in 2011. Legault sits as a member of the ...

) a social and economic liberal centre-right political party, Coalition Avenir Québec.

Early life and education

Born in

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi () is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and com ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, he earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Finance from

Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke (French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It i ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in finance from

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

. He is the father of François-Charles Sirois and grandfather of Maxime Sirois.

Business career

Sirois has had a long career in corporate management. He is currently a director of the

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; french: Banque canadienne impériale de commerce) is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District of Toronto, Ontario. ...

, Cossette Communication Group and Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal. He led BCE Mobile Communications from 1988 to 1990 as its chairman and CEO. Subsequently, he was chairman and CEO of Teleglobe, the leading provider of international long-distance and broadband services in Canada. He also served as chairman of Telesystem International Wireless, and founded and was chairman of Microcell Telecommunications, a GSM cellular provider in Canada best known for its Fido brand name. He was also a member of the G8 Dot Force, of the National Broadband Task Force, and was a founding member of the Washington-based Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC). Sirois is known within investment circles for his purchase of Excel Communications in 1998. Excel, which was a reseller of residential long-distance services, relied on door-to-door sales and

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

. While Sirois was able to sell Teleglobe to Bell Canada in 2000 at a price of $6.5 billion, the subsequent bursting of the internet bubble and telecom bust forced Teleglobe into bankruptcy in 2002 and the writedown of $2.1 billion of Excel. Sirois is one of the founding partners of Enablis and has served as its chairman and chief executive officer from inception. Sirois had a net worth of C$1.2 billion in 2015.http://www.canadianbusiness.com/lists-and-rankings/richest-people/top-100-richest-canadians-2015/

Honours

In 1994, he was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in recognition for being "a visionary in the area of intercontinental communications". In 1998, he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

. He holds honorary doctorates from

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Qué ...

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

, Concordia University,

and the

École de technologie supérieure École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) is a public engineering faculty in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974, the École de technologie supérieure is a constituent of Université du Québec system. Specialized in applied teaching in ...

Published work

In 1995, he published a book on the information highway entitled "The Medium and the Muse" (). In his second book, published in June 2000, "Organic Management: Creating a Culture of Innovation" (), Sirois shares his management philosophy, along with his vision of the new economy.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirois, Charles 1954 births Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian political party founders Directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Knights of the National Order of Quebec Living people Members of the Order of Canada Writers from Saguenay, Quebec Université de Sherbrooke alumni Université Laval alumni Coalition Avenir Québec politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian male writers