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Charles Sirois, CM CQ (born May 22, 1954) is a Canadian 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) a social and economic liberal centre-right political party, Coalition Avenir Québec.

Early life and education

Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, he earned a bachelor's degree in Finance from Université de Sherbrooke and a master's degree in finance from Université Laval. 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, 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. 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.

Honours

In 1994, he was made a member of the Order of Canada 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.

He holds honorary doctorates from Université du Québec à Montréal, University of Ottawa, Concordia University, Université Laval and the École de technologie supérieure.

Published work

In 1995, he published a book on the information highway entitled "The Medium and the Muse" (ISBN 0-88645-175-2). In his second book, published in June 2000, "Organic Management: Creating a Culture of Innovation" (ISBN 0-00-200053-9), Sirois shares his management philosophy, along with his vision of the new economy.

References

1. "OnMobile's managing director and CEO Rajiv Pancholy resigns". 24 February 2017.
2. "CIBC announces appointment of Charles Sirois as Chair of the Board".
3. "Canada's Richest People 2015: The Top 100 Richest Canadians". Archived from the original on 12 February 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
4. Order of Canada citation
5. "National Order of Quebec citation" (in French). Archived from the original on 21 October 2014.

External links

• "Charles Sirois biography". Archived from the original on 28 February 2007.

• 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