BUFFETT LOSES TO DESMARAIS AS POWER EXCEEDS BERKSHIRE RETURN

"Better than Buffett. Those who bet on Power Corp. in the 15 years from 1993 to 2008 earned slightly more than investors in Omaha, Nebraska- based Berkshire Hathaway, according to data compiled by Bloomberg... Paul Sr.'s saga is as sprawling as the family's holdings. Desmarais was an original when he started out in the early 1950s: a French-speaking entrepreneur when almost all of Canada's bankers, politicians and CEOs belonged to the entrenched, English-speaking establishment, says David Lank, professor emeritus of Desautels Faculty of Management Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies at McGill University in Montreal. His bravura as a dealmaker and his rush of acquisitions over 20 years shifted perceptions of Francophone business leaders. 'Paul Desmarais helped build the stage so that other people could tap-dance,' Lank says..."

Bloomberg.com, July 30, 2009