Jacques D’Amours

Net Worth:
$2.02 billion
(▼5.2% from 2017)

Rich 100 rank: #58
Change in rank from 2017: ▼15
Major company holdings: Alimentation Couche-Tard
Location: Laval, Que.
Age: 62

The second largest shareholder of Alimentation Couche-Tard, Jacques d’Amours is the person responsible for maintaining the Quebec-based company’s grasp on its dual-class share structure. Once d’Amours, the youngest of the four co-founders, turns 65 in 2021, the sun will set on the 21-year-old agreement that gives the founders (who own about 22.7% of the company combined) multiple voting rights—a power they argue is essential to keeping Couche-Tard Canadian. The firm pushed investors to let them extend the agreement in 2015, expressing concern over the company’s vulnerability to a takeover upon its expiry, to no avail.

That hasn’t dampened the founders’ ambitions, though. In June, the company closed a US$3.7-billion acquisition of Texas-based CST Brands, Couche-Tard’s largest takeover to date. The move signals that the company will continue to scoop up major competitors. After all, in its 37 years, that strategy—which included buying Circle K, and Scandinavian fuel and retail giant Statoil—has helped it establish over 12,000 locations in North America, Asia and Europe. Capping off 2017, the company say its stock jump 3.9% when Metro Inc. began selling back the majority of its Couche-Tard shares—about $1.55 billion worth—to help fund its purchase of sister drug store chain Jean Coutu Group Inc.

Updated Thursday, November 9, 2017