Power renaissance: Desmarais empire cozies up to tech startup enemies

Montreal’s billionaire Desmarais family has come up with a novel approach to fend off the technology startups that threaten its financial services empire: Bring the enemies in and invite them to attack.
Power Corp. of Canada, the Montreal-based holding company that runs one of the country’s biggest insurers and mutual-fund companies, has set aside $250 million to spend on fintech startups in various stages of development. The plan is to have them compete with Power’s older busi