Lino Saputo

Emanuele "Lino" Saputo, (; born June 10, 1937) is an Italian-Canadian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of the Canadian cheese manufacturer Saputo Inc. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$4.7 billion as of November 2022.

Early life Saputo was born in Montelepre, Sicily, Italy, in 1937, to Giuseppe Saputo, a cheesemaker, and his wife Maria. Giuseppe and Frank, his eldest son, immigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1950, and two years later, Lino joined his father and brother in Canada, along with his mother Maria, his brother Luigi, as well as his sisters Rosalia, Elina, Maria and Antonina.

Career Saputo became chairman of the board and president of Saputo Inc. in 1969, and he was named chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) in 1997 when the company went public. In March 2004, his son Lino Saputo Jr. was appointed to the position of president and CEO, while Saputo continued as the company's chairman. In August 2017, Lino Saputo Jr. assumed the role of chairman, and Saputo remains the majority shareholder of Saputo Inc. A spokesperson said that "was justified for business reasons and not for fiscal considerations".

Saputo has a strong interest in hockey, and he founded a hockey player agency called Quartexx Management.

Saputo founded the Amelia and Lino Saputo Jr. Foundation in 2011, which has as a mission to education and support future generations.

Honours In 2011, Saputo was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada (CM) in 2012, per the Government House announcement on June 29, 2012, and the Canada Gazette on September 1, 2012.

Saputo's son Lino Saputo Jr. was named "Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year" for 2019 by the Financial Post.

Alleged mob ties Links between Saputo and American mobster Joe Bonanno have been evidenced between 1964 and 1979.

2020 CBC investigation A 2020 investigation by Enquête reported that Saputo, contrary to his claims of no contact with Bonanno after May 1964, had been reported by an FBI informant as having met him in Tucson in 1970. Further investigations by the FBI and DEA found evidence of contact between the two over the next nine years. Investigator Eugene Ehmann was quoted by CBC, "They just had a relationship, and it was a longtime one." Saputo allegedly funneled US$51,000 (US$210,000 in 2020) from his brother-in-law and business partner Giuseppe Borsellino, who is known to have corresponded with Bonanno and have had links to the Rizzuto crime family, to the mobster. Borsellino, whom RCMP investigators identified as a pseudonymous Bonanno associated known as "Peppo Freddo" (literally 'Cold Peppo', 'Peppo' being a diminutive of 'Giuseppe'), is known to have had links to the Rizzuto family of Montreal.

In 1980, Saputo was refused a business permit in New York by Appeals Court Judge Charles D. Breitel, for his alleged ties to Saputo.