Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist and television personality
Vincenzo "Vince" Guzzo[1] OMRI SMOM[2] (Italian pronunciation: [vinˈtʃɛntso ˈɡuttso]; born 11 June 1969) is a Canadian businessman and television personality. He is CEO of Cinémas Guzzo, Groupe Guzzo Construction inc., Guzzo Medical and Guzzo Hospitality. He has also opened a chain of Neapolitan pizzerias called Giulietta in Montreal. Guzzo was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, he was knighted by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and is a member of the Order of Malta.[2]
In 2018 Guzzo joined the cast of the CBC Television business reality show Dragons' Den as one of the investor "Dragons" in season 13 through season 18.
Early life
Guzzo was born on 11 June 1969 in Montreal, the only son of Italian immigrants.[3] Guzzo attended Selwyn House School,[4] a private boys' school in Westmount, Quebec, where his classmates included Greg Fergus, Mark Pathy and Michael Penner.[5][6] A 19 September 2018 profile in the Montreal Gazette talks about his early life:
As a student at Selwyn House School, Guzzo would do his homework in his father’s office at the movie theatre. He later worked as an usher, and then in other capacities in the business.[2]
He studied economics at Western University in London, Ontario, and law at Université de Québec à Montréal.[2][7]
Business career
Cinémas Guzzo
Guzzo is the president and CEO of Cinémas Guzzo—the largest movie operator in Quebec, with 141 screens and 10 locations, and the third-largest in Canada.[2] He has another new cinema Méga-Plex St-Jean 12 opened in 2021.[8]
Cinémas Guzzo was started by his father, Angelo Guzzo, who remains chairman of the board. He came to Canada from Italy in 1967 and worked as a machinist for Pratt & Whitney. In 1974, he bought a movie theatre,[2] the Cinéma Paradis, which had been closed and left abandoned for the previous ten years, creating friction with the local citizens. Vincenzo Guzzo worked as an usher and in other small roles as a student. In 1991 he joined his father in the family business. As the chain expanded in the late 1990s and new locations were established, the construction division of Cinémas Guzzo did the building and Guzzo helped with the design work.[2]
Other businesses
Vincenzo Guzzo is also CEO for the following companies:
- Club discotheque L'astre 5
- Groupe Guzzo Construction Inc.[2][9]
- Guzzo Hospitality[2]
- Guzzo Medical Services Inc.[2][10]
- Cinémas Guzzo Les Films Inc.[11][12]
All of the cinemas owned by Cinémas Guzzo were built by Le Groupe Guzzo Construction Inc.[13] Guzzo also owns a chain of Neapolitan pizzerias called Giulietta.[14]
In May 2019, Guzzo submitted a bid to purchase the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.[15] He later pulled out of the running to buy the team, citing "personal conflicts with people around the deal."[16] Guzzo later tweeted in a series of threads that he did not believe that CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie knew what he was doing during negotiations and acted "in a non transparent way and wasted my time."[17]
Guzzo has also been President of APCQ (L'Association des propriétaires de cinémas du Québec)—an association of Québec cinema owners—since 2012.[18]
Personal life
Vincenzo Guzzo has five children (Angelo II, Vittorio Emanuele, Vito, Delano and Rossella).[2] He and the family raise money for the Jewish General Hospital, the Shriners Hospital and Youth Mental Health.[13][23]
Guzzo holds both Canadian and Italian citizenships.[2]
The CBC Dragon's Den blog explains:
[The Guzzo family], are renowned philanthropists, giving generously to numerous hospitals and culminating in the establishment of the Guzzo Family Foundation in 2007, which is aggressively invested in cancer nanotechnology research at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital and McGill University. Guzzo’s contributions have been internationally recognized as he is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, was knighted by the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and is a distinguished member of the Order of Malta.[13]
Guzzo is nicknamed "Mr. Sunshine", and his outfits usually display that with wearing the colour yellow.
Guzzo was charged with criminal harassment and breach of conditions in 2023, for "engaging in criminal harassment against a person between November 2022 and June 2023[24]", in the context of a family dispute. It was alleged Guzzo also breached his conditions by failing to not communicate, directly or indirectly, with the individual. All charges were dropped on December 4th 2023 [25]".
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