Daryl Katz

Daryl Katz was born in 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta. His father was a pharmacist who along with Bob Porozni founded Value Drug Mart in Edmonton in the 1970s. Katz attended the Edmonton Talmud Torah day school during his elementary years and then graduated from Jasper Place High School. He then attended the University of Alberta, graduating with an arts degree in 1982 and with a law degree in 1985.

After school, he worked for a time at the law firm Shoctor, Mousseau, and Starkman, 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 US-based Medicine Shoppe drugstore franchise which had over 1,000 stores in the United States. 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 fading Rexall 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 operator Oshawa Group for $100 million. 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.

In 1999 he ventured into the US with the purchase of the money-losing, $300 million in sales, Minnesota-based Snyders Drug Store chain; in 2001, he purchased the U.S.-based Drug Emporium big-box discount chain. His foray into the US market 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-million Rexall 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 US-based drug distributor McKesson Corporation for $1.2 billion. Katz Group sold its network of approximately 460 outlets to McKesson Corporation in 2016 for C$3 billion.

As of November 2022, Katz' net worth is reported at US$4.2 billion, according to Forbes.

Katz is married to Renee Gouin. She is the daughter of Jean 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. The couple have twin children, Chloe and Harrison, who are the founders of the nonprofit Hockey Helps Kids organization.

Health issues

In 2019, the Oilers Entertainment Group released a statement confirming that Katz has been suffering from a life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant bacterial sinus infection. Sportsnet hockey analyst John Shannon tweeted that Katz carried an IV bag around the clock during the Edmonton 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.

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 to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and founded The Daryl A Katz Centre For Urgent And Critical Care. Katz has also given "millions" to the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, as well as supporting public events.

Between 2005 and 2010, Katz and his wife donated "over $50 million" to organizations and institutions across Canada.

Allegations of sexual misconduct

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.

In July 2022, Boston Ballet ballerina Dusty Button and her husband, defendants in a U.S. civil suit filed by Sage Humphries and six other ballerinas accusing the Buttons of sexual abuse, filed a counterclaim alleging that Katz paid Humphries $75,000 in exchange for sexual favors. Humphries denied having had any sexual relationship with Katz. In August 2022, the couple voluntarily withdrew their claims against Katz; their lawyer issued an apology and requested that the court strike all relevant references from the record.