R. Jeffrey Orr

Robert Jeffrey Orr (born 12 November 1958) is a Canadian financier who since 2020 has been president of the Power Corporation of Canada. Orr began his career in 1981 with the investment brokerage Nesbitt, Thomson & Co. in Montreal. In 1989 he relocated to Toronto where he became head of mergers and acquisitions, then in 1992 became head of government and corporate finance. In 1997, Orr was appointed vice-chairman of the company (which in 1994 had become Nesbitt Burns Inc.) and in 1999 was appointed chairman of the board.

In early 2001, the Desmarais family, who were longstanding clients of Nesbitt Burns and with whom Orr was close personally, recruited him from the brokerage. Effective 1 May 2001, Orr was appointed president of Investors Group, one of the companies in the Power Corporation group. Subsequently, in 2005 he was elected a director of Power Corporation and Power Financial, and was appointed president of Power Financial. In 2013 he was elected chairman of Great-West Lifeco and its subsidiaries Canada Life, Great-West Life, and London Life. Upon the retirement of Paul Desmarais Jr. and André Desmarais as co-chief executive officers of Power Corporation, on 13 February 2020 Orr was appointed president and chief executive officer of the company.