Alexandre Taillefer
Alexandre Taillefer | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, investor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Known for | Founder and managing partner of XPND Capital; co-founder of Stingray Digital; former director at Quebecor's online division; chairman of the board at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal |
Alexandre Taillefer is a Quebec-based Canadian entrepreneur who founded and currently serves as managing partner of XPND Capital, a firm specializing in private equity.
Commercial activities
At 21 years old in 1993, Taillefer established Intellia, an e-commerce service company that was later purchased by Quebecor. He remained with Quebecor until 2000, where he directed the online division and played a key role in merging Informission and Intellia to create Nurun, now part of Publicis.
In 2007, he co-launched Stingray Digital, which offers music-related products and services.
Taillefer leads XPND Capital, managing approximately 40 million dollars invested through multiple venture capital funds. The initial fund was created in partnership with Stephen Bronfman's Claridge, while subsequent funds have been fully financed by the Quebec government. The firm has encountered criticism regarding the subpar returns generated from these public investments. In 2015, XPND took control of Voir, a prominent Quebec publishing company, and formed Taxelco, a holding entity owning more than 40% of Montreal’s taxi market via stakes in Téo Taxi, Taxi Diamond, and Taxi Hochelaga.
Other activities
Taillefer was appointed chairman of the board at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal in 2012. Between 2013 and 2016, he appeared as a "dragon" investor on the Quebec adaptation of Dragon's Den, known as Dans l'œil du dragon.
He has occasionally voiced political opinions, advocating for a $15 minimum wage in 2015 and encouraging the Quebec government in 2017 to increase funding for subsidized childcare programs.
Personal life
In 2015, Taillefer experienced the tragic loss of his fourteen-year-old son to suicide following struggles with cyberdependency and distress signals sent via Twitch. He publicly condemned Twitch’s insufficient response through media engagements and a detailed 45-minute documentary titled Bye. This drew wider criticism from mental health professionals and online content creators towards Twitch’s management of such incidents.
Political career
Alexandre Taillefer acted as campaign chair for the Quebec Liberal Party during the 2018 Quebec general election, though he did not pursue an elected position himself. His simultaneous roles as campaign chair and significant media shareholder raised concerns about potential media bias favoring the Liberal Party, echoing controversies linked to Pierre Karl Péladeau’s tenure with the Parti Québecois. To mitigate these issues, Taillefer withdrew from operational responsibilities within his media enterprises.
On May 10, 2018, it was reported by L'actualité that Taillefer had registered as a lobbyist to secure subsidies for his taxi ventures.