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Daryl Allan Katz (; born May 31, 1961) is a Canadian billionaire businessman. Katz is the founder and chairman of the Katz Group of Companies, one of Canada's largest privately owned enterprises, with pharmacy, sports & entertainment, and real estate development businesses. Katz Group owns the Edmonton Oilers and led the development of Rogers Place and the Ice District. Katz is a former lawyer and resides in Edmonton.
In 1999 he ventured into the U.S. with the purchase of the money-losing, $300 million in sales, Minnesota-based Snyders Drug Store chain; in 2001, he purchased the U.S.-based Drug Emporium big-box discount chain. His foray into the U.S. was not without failure: the Snyder's chain filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and its 25 stores were sold to Walgreens. In 2004, Katz purchased the naming rights for ten years to the new $45-million Rexall Centre, a 12,500-seat tennis and entertainment complex on the campus of York University. In January 2012, he sold Drug Trading Co. and Medicine Shoppe Canada to the U.S.-based drug distributor McKesson Corporation for $1.2 billion. Katz Group sold its network of approximately 460 outlets to McKesson Corporation in 2016 for C$3 billion.
In July 2007, he made another bid for the Oilers of $185-million, which EIG turned down on August 7, 2007. On December 12, 2007, Katz made an offer of $188-million to the EIG. The Board of the EIG announced in January 2008 that it would again recommend to its shareholders to reject this latest bid.
On January 28, 2008, Katz increased his offer to $200 million and extended the acceptance deadline to February 5, 2008, at which time Katz was notified by the EIG that all its members agreed to sell the Oilers to him, pending league and financial approval. On June 18, 2008, Daryl Katz received the final OK from the National Hockey League to purchase the Edmonton Oilers, and then on July 2, 2008, he was officially announced as the owner of the Edmonton Oilers during a Press Conference at Rexall Place, where he was presented with an Edmonton Oilers Jersey with the number "08" and his last name patched onto the back.
In June 2014, Katz Group announced that Bob Nicholson would join the organization as Vice-Chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a new sports and entertainment company that would manage the Katz Group's growing family of sports and entertainment assets, and operate Rogers Place, the new home of the Edmonton Oilers.
In addition to the Oilers, OEG owns and operates the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL), and Bakersfield Condors (AHL) as well as Aquila Productions (film & production company). Nicholson was named CEO of OEG in April 2015 and given responsibility for both business and hockey operations.
In April 2015, Katz announced a partnership with Joel Silver to create Silver Pictures – a new company that will develop, produce and provide or arrange financing for feature films, television and digital projects. Katz’ interests in the company fall under the OEG umbrella. The partnership was dissolved in 2019 and Silver Pictures carried on under Hal Sadoff.
Opened in September 2016, Rogers Place was marketed as one of North America's most advanced sports & entertainment venues, active year-round and featuring a 24,000 square foot grand entrance-way called the Ford Hall which can be used as public/private programmable space.
With Rogers Place at its core, Katz Group has begun construction of the Edmonton Arena District (EAD), slated to be Canada's largest mixed-use sports and entertainment development. The EAD will cover 25 contiguous acres of downtown Edmonton, and feature a 50,000 square foot public plaza, two office towers, a JW Marriott Hotel, a Gateway casino, over 1,000 luxury condos and rental apartments, and 270,000 square feet of retail space at a total cost of approximately $2.5 billion. In 2014, it was announced that the City of Edmonton and Stantec would be the major tenants of the two respective office towers. Stantec's tower will be the tallest in Edmonton at 69 stories.
The Edmonton Arena District was formally renamed the Ice District on July 13, 2015.
Between 2005 and 2010, Katz and his wife donated "over $50 million" to organizations and institutions across Canada.
Katz is married to Renee Gouin. She is the daughter of Jean Yvon (Ivan) Gouin. In 1952, her father founded the North American Construction Group which became one of the largest mining and heavy construction companies in Canada. Edmonton Journal: "Daryl Katz: reclusive billionaire" by Rick McConnell, John MacKinnon and Gary Lamphier December 17, 2012 The couple have twin children, Chloe and Harrison, who are the founders of the nonprofit Hockey Helps Kids organization.
In July 2022, Boston Ballet ballerina Dusty Button and her husband, defendants in a U.S. civil suit filed by Sage Humphries and six other ballerinas accusing the Buttons of sexual abuse, filed a counterclaim alleging that Katz paid Humpheries $75,000 in exchange for sexual favors. Humphries denied having had any sexual relationship with Katz. In August 2022, the couple voluntarily withdrew their claims against Katz; their lawyer issued an apology and requested that the court strike all relevant references from the record.
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