Background and career
Emanuele "Lino" Saputo, (Italian: [emanuˈɛːle liːno saˈpuːto]; born 10 June 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.
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.
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. Saputo was named in the 2017 Paradise Papers because he held shares in an offshore company, an aviation company, in Bermuda which he had sold off in 2010. A spokesperson said that "was justified for business reasons and not for fiscal considerations".
Saputo owns a significant stake in a trucking company, TransForce, and has extensive investments in real estate, forest products, hotels and golf courses. 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.
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.
Links between Saputo and American mobster Joe Bonanno have been evidenced between 1964 and 1979. Saputo has admitted to meeting with Bonanno in May 1964 at his factory in Saint-Michel, where Giuseppe Saputo offered Bonanno a 20% stake in his company. Bonanno mentions the episode in his 1983 autobiography A Man of Honor, claiming the two had only met at the insistence of a mutual friend. Saputo claimed the father was cancelled the deal after learning of Bonanno's mob ties.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
