Daryl Katz | |
|---|---|
 Katz in 2010 | |
| Born | Daryl Allan Katz (1961-05-31)May 31, 1961 (age 64) |
| Education | University of Alberta (BA,LLB) |
| Occupation(s) | Chairman and CEO,Katz Group |
| Known for | Owner,Edmonton Oilers |
| Spouse | Renee Gouin |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | https://darylkatz.com/ |
Daryl Allan Katz (/keɪts/;[1] born May 31, 1961) is a Canadianbillionaire businessman. Katz is the founder and chairman of theKatz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainment, and real estate development businesses. Katz Group owns theEdmonton Oilers and led the development ofRogers Place and the Ice District. Katz is a former lawyer and resides in Edmonton.
Daryl Katz was born in 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta.[2] His father was a pharmacist who along with Bob Porozni foundedValue Drug Mart in Edmonton in the 1970s.[3] Katz attended theEdmonton Talmud Torah day school during his elementary years and then graduated fromJasper Place High School.[3][4] He then attended theUniversity of Alberta, graduating with an arts degree in 1982 and with a law degree in 1985.[3]
After school, he worked for a time at the law firm, Shoctor, Mousseau, and Starkman,[3] and then started his practice focusing on corporate and franchise law. In 1991, in a partnership with his father, Katz paid $300,000 for the Canadian rights to the U.S.-based Medicine Shoppe drugstore franchise which had over 1,000 stores in the USA. In 1992, they opened the first Medicine Shoppe store and Katz founded the Katz Group of Companies which was to become the holding company for the group. In 1996, Katz purchased the storied but fadingRexall drugstore chain in Canada which at the time, only consisted of several dozen stores. The business grew and by 1998, the Katz Group consisted of 80 Rexall stores, 30 Medicine Shoppe outlets, and a few smaller independent retailers. In 1997, he purchased the Ontario-based, 143-store Pharma Plus drugstore chain from the supermarket operatorOshawa Group for $100 million.[4] Katz reportedly retains a small circle of highly paid executives who run the Katz Group. Rexall Pharmacy is run from Ontario, while other subsidiaries of Katz Group maintain private headquarters separate from Katz Group itself.[5]
In 1999 he ventured into the U.S. with the purchase of the money-losing, $300 million in sales, Minnesota-based Snyders Drug Store chain; in 2001, he purchased the U.S.-basedDrug Emporium big-box discount chain. His foray into the U.S. was not without failure: the Snyder's chain filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and its 25 stores were sold to Walgreens. In 2004, Katz purchased the naming rights for ten years to the new $45-millionRexall Centre, a 12,500-seat tennis and entertainment complex on the campus of York University. In January 2012, he sold Drug Trading Co. and Medicine Shoppe Canada to the U.S.-based drug distributorMcKesson Corporation for $1.2 billion. Katz Group sold its network of approximately 460 outlets to McKesson Corporation in 2016 for C$3 billion.[6]
In May 2007, Katz made a $145-million bid to buy theEdmonton Oilers franchise, which the owners of the team, theEdmonton Investors Group (EIG), quickly rejected, stating the team was not for sale.[7]
In July 2007, he made another bid for the Oilers of $185-million, which EIG turned down on August 7, 2007.[8] On December 12, 2007, Katz made an offer of $188-million to the EIG. The Board of the EIG announced in January 2008 that it would again recommend to its shareholders to reject this latest bid.[9]
On January 28, 2008, Katz increased his offer to $200 million and extended the acceptance deadline to February 5, 2008, at which time Katz was notified by the EIG that all its members agreed to sell the Oilers to him, pending league and financial approval.[10] On June 18, 2008, Daryl Katz received approval from the National Hockey League to purchase the Edmonton Oilers, and then on July 2, 2008, he was officially announced as the owner of the Edmonton Oilers during a Press Conference at Rexall Place, where he was presented with an Edmonton Oilers Jersey with the number "08" and his last name patched onto the back.[citation needed]
In June 2014, Katz Group announced[11] thatBob Nicholson would join the organization as Vice-Chairman ofOilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a new sports and entertainment company that would manage the Katz Group's sports and entertainment assets, and operateRogers Place, the new home of the Edmonton Oilers.[citation needed]
In addition to the Oilers, OEG owns and operates theEdmonton Oil Kings (WHL), andBakersfield Condors (AHL) as well as Aquila Productions (film & production company). Nicholson was named[12] CEO of OEG in April 2015 and given responsibility for both business and hockey operations.[citation needed]
In April 2015, Katz announced a partnership[13] withJoel Silver to createSilver Pictures Entertainment – a new company to develop, produce and provide or arrange financing for feature films, television and digital projects. Katz’ interests in the company fall under the OEG umbrella.[14] The partnership was dissolved in 2019 and Silver Pictures carried on under Hal Sadoff.[15]
Katz has said that he bought the Oilers because he saw Edmonton's need for a new arena as an opportunity to be the catalyst for the revitalization of Edmonton's downtown core. Following public consultations and negotiations with theCity of Edmonton, Katz Group and the city agreed to a public-private partnership to buildRogers Place arena, which would see the city retain ownership of the new arena, and Katz Group operate it (under OEG). The City's portion of arena funding will be paid through a Community Revitalization Levy and will not result in any new cost to taxpayers.[16] Construction on the project began March 2014.[17]
Opened in September 2016, Rogers Place was marketed as one of North America's most advanced sports & entertainment venues, active year-round and featuring a 24,000 square foot grand entrance-way called the Ford Hall which can be used as public/private programmable space.[18]
With Rogers Place at its core, Katz Group began construction of the Edmonton Arena District (EAD),[19] which was to be one of Canada's largest mixed-use sports and entertainment development. The EAD was planned to cover 25 contiguous acres of downtown Edmonton, and feature a 50,000 square foot public plaza, two office towers, a JW Marriott Hotel, a Gateway casino, over 1,000 luxury condos and rental apartments, and 270,000 square feet of retail space at a total cost of approximately $2.5 billion. In 2014, it was announced that the City of Edmonton andStantec would be the major tenants of the two respective office towers. Stantec's tower will be the tallest in Edmonton at 69 stories.[20][needs update]
The Edmonton Arena District was formally renamed theIce District on July 13, 2015.[21]
In October 2006 Katz announced a $7 million donation to the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Faculty of Law. Matched by the province, the gift was the largest donation ever to a Canadian pharmacy school. The west wing of the Health Research Innovation Facility at the corner of 87th Avenue and 114th Street in Edmonton has been named The Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research. In 2009 Katz donated $20 Million toMount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and founded The Daryl A Katz Centre For Urgent And Critical Care.[22] Katz has also given "millions" to theStollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, as well as supporting public events.[23]
Between 2005 and 2010, Katz and his wife donated "over $50 million" to organizations and institutions across Canada.[24][25]
As of November 2022, Katz'net worth is reported at US$4.2 billion, according toForbes.[26]
Katz is married to Renee Gouin.[3] She is the daughter ofJean Yvon (Ivan) Gouin. In 1952, her father founded the North American Construction Group which became one of the largest mining and heavy construction companies in Canada.[27][28] The couple have twin children, Chloe and Harrison, who are the founders of the nonprofit Hockey Helps Kids organization.[29]
In 2019, theOilers Entertainment Group released a statement confirming that Katz has been suffering from a life-threatening, antibiotic-resistantbacterial sinus infection.Sportsnet hockey analystJohn Shannon tweeted that Katz carried an IV bag around the clock during theEdmonton Oilers’ playoff run in 2017. He also underwent three surgeries in ten months to battle the infection which has a 50-50 survival rate, and his current prognosis looks positive.[30][31]
In early 2017, Katz was accused by Brazilian actress and model Greice Santo and her husband R. J. Cipriani of offering money to the former in exchange for sexual favors. Santo also denounced Michael Gelmon, Katz's cousin and associate, for defending him and threatening to end her career in Hollywood if she spoke about the case.[32]
In July 2022,Boston Ballet ballerinaDusty Button and her husband, defendants in a U.S. civil suit filed bySage Humphries and six other ballerinas accusing the Buttons of sexual abuse, filed a counterclaim alleging that Katz paid Humpheries $75,000 in exchange for sexual favors.[33][34] Humphries denied having had any sexual relationship with Katz.[35][36] In August 2022, the couple voluntarily withdrew their claims against Katz;[37] their lawyer issued an apology and requested that the court strike all relevant references from the record.[38]
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