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Quick answers
What is Paul Desmarais III's role at Diagram?
Co-founder and Chairman. Diagram's own About Us page lists him first among the team as "Co-Founder & Chairman" (diagram.vc About Us page, checked 2026-09-21). Sagard's team page describes him the same way, as "Chairman and Co-Founder of Diagram (venture builder)" (Sagard team page, checked 2026-09-21).
What else does he do besides Diagram?
He is co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Sagard, an alternative asset manager it describes as holding over $46B in assets. The same page lists him as Executive Chairman and co-founder of Portage, Chairman of Wealthsimple, Novisto and Sagard Wealth, and a director of Nesto and Midas (Sagard team page, checked 2026-09-21). Alt Goes Mainstream described him the same way in a recorded session at SuperReturn Berlin (Alt Goes Mainstream, 2026-07-29).
What is Diagram?
A venture builder and investor in fintech and climatetech that says it has launched 25+ ventures since 2016, building them from the ground up. Its About Us page lists offices in Montreal, QC and Toronto, ON (diagram.vc, checked 2026-09-21).
Which Paul Desmarais is this, and what is his background?
This is Paul Desmarais III, not Paul Desmarais or Paul Desmarais Jr.; the Capitalize for Kids Podcast episode with him notes he is the grandson of Power Corporation's founder and carved out his own path (Capitalize for Kids Podcast, 2019-03-28). His Milken Institute Global Conference speaker bio lists a B.A. in Economics from Harvard and an MBA from INSEAD, and earlier roles at Goldman Sachs, Imerys S.A. and Great-West Lifeco; the community roles it lists — Centraide, Sainte-Justine Hospital Foundation and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts — are all Montreal institutions (Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 speaker page, checked 2026-09-21).