Hassan Khosrowshahi was born in Tehran, Iran in 1940. He was educated in Iran and England and graduated in law and economics from the University of Tehran.

Khosrowshahi joined his family’s business, Minoo Industrial Group in 1959. When the Group was expropriated following the Islamic Revolution it employed over 6,000 people and manufactured products under it’s own brand names and under license for L’Oreal, Sandoz, and Rowntree Mackintosh among others. The distribution arm of the Group was the exclusive distributor for Nestlé Products in Iran from 1954 to 1980.

In 1981, Khosrowshahi immigrated to Canada and founded the Persis Group of Companies. The Group founded Future Shop chain of consumer electronic stores which it sold to Best Buy Inc. in 2001.

Wesbild Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Persis is engaged in developing, holding, and managing real estate. It has developed Westwood Plateau and Burke Mountain in the lower mainland of Vancouver comprised of over seven thousand residential units, developed, owned or operated over three million square feet of shopping centres in Canada and the United States and owns and operates Predator Ridge, the premier recreation resort in Okanagan B.C. with two championship golf courses. When fully developed it will comprise some two thousand residential units.

In 2002, the Group purchased Drug Royalty Inc. (DRI Capital) a finance company focusing on the acquisition of royalty streams on pharmaceutical products. Since 2002, DRI has acquired over US$1.8B in royalty streams. As of February 2021, DRI is operating as the manager of DRI Healthcare Trust a TSX listed company.

In 2007, the Group formed Reservoir Media which operates as a music company focused on publishing, recorded music and management. Reservoir represents over 130,000 copyrights and 36,000 master recordings dated back to early 1900s. Reservoir is now listed on The NASDAQ under the symbol, RSVR.

Khosrowshahi has been appointed a member of the Order of Canada and Order of British Columbia and inducted into the Business Columbia Business Hall of Fame.

Khosrowshahi has been married to his wife Nezhat since 1968.

Maureen Kempston Darkes was appointed General Motors Corporation Group Vice President and President, GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East (LAAM) and a member of the General Motors Automotive Strategy Board, Effective January 1, 2002, a position which she held until her retirement from General Motors in December, 2009. Prior to this appointment, she was President and General Manager of General Motors of Canada Limited (GMCL) and Vice President of General Motors Corporation from 1994 to 2001.

Kempston Darkes currently serves on the board of Brookfield Asset Management, and she is a member of the RCMB Advisory Board. In January 2013, she was appointed the Government of Canada to the Science, Technology and Innovation Council. She has also served on the Board of Brascan, Noranda, Falconbridge, Thomson Corporation, Balfour Beattie plc, Schlumberger Limited, Irving Oil, Canadian National Railway, Enbridge Inc. and The Canadian Olympic Committee. During her tenure as President of GM of Canada, she was a board member of the Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association; the Ontario Government Education, Quality and Accountability Board; and the Ontario Minister of Health’s Women’s Health Council. Kempston Darkes was appointed by the federal government to the Free Trade Agreement Automotive Select Panel in 1989 and, in 1994, to the Transportation Equipment Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade.

Kempston Darkes is a former Director of Bridgeport Health Foundation. She has served as the former chair for major gifts for Women’s College Hospital Fund Raising Campaigns; co-chaired the BC Cancer Foundation’s Millennium Campaign, focused on genome science and research into finding cures for and treatment of cancer.

Kempston Darkes was born and raised in the Toronto area. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science from Victoria College, University of Toronto. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto Law School and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1975.

She has received honorary doctor of laws degrees from the University of Toronto, University of Victoria, McMaster University, Dalhousie University, Wilfrid Laurier University, Mount Saint Vincent University; and the Law Society of Upper Canada, an honorary doctorate of business administration from Laurentian University and an honorary doctor of commerce degree from Saint Mary’s University.

In 1997, Kempston Darkes received the Order of Ontario and was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000. The American Bar Association in 1998 recognized her with the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. In 1999, she received the Government of Canada’s Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case. In May 2011, she was honored with the Global Athena Leadership Award, and in December, 2011 the Automotive Hall of Fame and the Women’s Automobile Association International honored her with the Alice B. Ramsey Award.

Born in Sudbury, Ontario in 1954, Paul Desmarais, Jr. obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University and an MBA from the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD), France.

Mr. Desmarais has been Chairman of Power Corporation since 1996. He also served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Power Corporation from 1996 until his retirement in February 2020, previously having assumed various positions since he joined Power Corporation in 1981. He is Chairman of Power Financial and also served as Executive Co-Chairman of from 2015 to March 2020, Co-Chairman from 2008 to 2015 and Executive Chairman from 1990 to 2005.

Mr. Desmarais was Chairman of the Board of Pargesa from 2013 until November 2020, when Pargesa’s reorganization was completed. He was a director of Pargesa from 1992 until 2020. Prior to joining Power Corporation, he was with S.G. Warburg & Co. in London, England, and with Standard Brands Incorporated in New York.

He is a Director and member of various Board Committees of many Power group companies including Great-West Lifeco Inc. and its major subsidiaries, and IGM Financial Inc. and its major subsidiaries. He is also Chairman of the Board of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and a Director of SGS SA. He was a Director of LafargeHolcim from 2008 to 2020, of Total SA from 2002 to 2017, of GDF Suez from 2001 to 2014, and of Imerys S.A. from 1998 to 2008.

Mr. Desmarais is active on a number of philanthropic advisory councils.

He received the Insigne d’Officier de l’Ordre de la Couronne of Belgium in 1994. In 2005, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec in 2009. In 2012, he was named Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in France.

Mr. Desmarais acquired control of Power Corporation in 1968 and is presently Chairman of the Executive Committee. He is also a director of Power Financial and Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Pargesa Holding, an international investment group based in Switzerland. He is also a director of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert. In addition, Mr. Desmarais serves as Director Emeritus of Great-West Lifeco and of IGM Financial, and holds directorships in Square Victoria Communications Group and La Presse ltée.

Mr. Desmarais is a major contributor towards community services, education, and the arts. In 1986, he founded the Société d’Investissement Jeunesse, an initiative offering financing and technical support for young people starting a business. In the 1990s, he served as Honorary Chair of the University of Ottawa’s $226-million Campaign for Canada’s University fundraising campaign. He is Founding Chairman of the Canada China Business Council.

Mr. Desmarais is a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, a Companion of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the National Order of Québec, a Grand’Croix de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur (France), and a Commandeur de l’Ordre de Léopold II (Belgium). He obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa, and he holds honorary degrees and distinctions from 13 Canadian universities.