Stéphan Crétier
Stephan Crétier is a Canadian businessman and entrepreneur. He is the founding president and chief executive officer of GardaWorld, one of the largest privately held security providers in the world.
Crétier founded GardaWorld in 1995 with an investment of $25,000, which he raised by placing a second mortgage on his home. The company now generates over $3 billion in annual revenues and is one of the largest employers in the security industry, with 102 000 employees worldwide. Over the past 20 years, Crétier has pushed the expansion of his company into the security and cash services sectors, having grown the company through strategic acquisitions across Canada and into the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa.
Recognized as Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998, Growth Leader by Profit 100 magazine for 11 consecutive years, and Great Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006, Crétier was named one of Canada's Entrepreneurs of the Decade by Profit Magazine in 2009 and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He took the company private in a $1.1 billion transaction with support from private equity firm Apax Partners.
In July 2019, he led the largest buyout in Canadian history in a transaction worth $5.2bn with private equity firm BC Partners where Crétier now owns with selected management 49% of GardaWorld.
Stephan Crétier is board member of several organizations such as International Security Ligue, Montreal Economic Institute, the Hirshhorn Museum, and TC Energy.
Stephan Crétier is also co-owner of the winery Roy Estate and an important contributor to the Vimy Foundation and The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
