G erry Schwartz is a Canadian self-made billionaire and one of the country's most powerful and influential business figures. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Onex Corporation, Canada's largest and oldest private equity firm. After a career in law and investment banking in the U.S. and Canada, he founded Onex in 1984, pioneering the private equity industry in Canada.

For nearly four decades, he has led Onex, overseeing a long and successful track record of leveraged buyouts and investments across a wide range of industries, from aerospace to services and manufacturing. He is a central and highly connected figure in the Canadian business establishment. His wife, Heather Reisman, is also a highly successful entrepreneur as the founder and CEO of the Canadian bookstore chain, Indigo Books & Music. Together, they are one of Canada's most prominent power couples and are major philanthropists.