Pierre Péladeau

Pierre Péladeau, CM OQ (April 11, 1925 – December 24, 1997) was a French-Canadian businessman. He was the founder of Quebecor Inc., a Canadian media company centered in the province of Quebec.

Life and career

Péladeau was born in Outremont, Quebec (now part of the city of Montreal) in 1925. He completed a degree in philosophy from the Université de Montréal, and in 1950 completed a law degree at McGill University. He first purchased what was a struggling community paper, Le Journal de Rosemont, which he bought with a $1,500 loan from his mother. Péladeau later went on to pursue bigger and better companies through acquisition.

One notable event, and possibly the one responsible for the initial success of Quebecor, and one to which the company owes its existence to this day, is the smart business opportunity that Péladeau seized in the late 1960s. While the major Montréal French-language newspaper's employees were on strike, Péladeau created his own newspaper Le Journal de Montréal. This new tabloid-format publication was an instant success and continued to hold top spot until the mid-1990s. A few years after the first Journal he founded the Journal de Quebec and the defunct experiment Philadelphia Journal. His company, Quebecor, later acquired Sun Media chain, among other newspaper and magazine properties. Today Quebecor is the number one commercial printing company in the world.

Péladeau is the father of former president and Chief Executive Officer of Quebecor Inc. and leader of Parti Québécois since May 15, 2015, Pierre Karl Péladeau. His other son Érik Péladeau is the former vice-chairman of Quebecor Inc., among other positions. He is also the father of Anne-Marie Péladeau as well as the late Isabelle Péladeau, Simon-Pierre Péladeau, Esther Péladeau and Jean B. Péladeau.

In 1987, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.