Daryl Katz

Daryl Allan Katz (born 1962) is a Canadian philanthropist and businessman living in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the founder and chairman of The Katz Group, one of North America's leading privately-owned enterprises with a broad range of businesses including sports, entertainment, hospitality, retail and real estate development. Katz is the owner of the Edmonton Oilers which is operated through the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) he founded in 2008 upon purchasing the team. OEG is the primary operator of Rogers Place, one of the leading sports and entertainment venues in North America and the home arena for the Oilers. Rogers Place was a collaborative agreement between Katz Group and the City of Edmonton.

Early in his career, Katz grew a small franchise pharmacy business into Rexall, Canada’s second largest integrated pharmacy chain. Today, most of his business interests are run through OEG Inc., based in Edmonton.

Katz reportedly maintains a small circle of highly paid advisers who run Katz Group. Rexall Pharmacy is run from Ontario, while other subsidiaries of Katz group maintain private headquarters separate from Katz Group itself.

Daryl Katz is trained as a lawyer. He is also the Oilers’ team representative on the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors.

Daryl Katz' net worth is reported at $4.4 Billion.

In May 2007, Katz bid $145 million to buy the Edmonton Oilers franchise. The owners of the team at the time, the Edmonton Investors Group (EIG), rejected this bid, stating the team was not for sale.

In July 2007, he made a renewed bid for the Oilers of $185 million; this was also turned down by EIG on August 7, 2007. On December 12, 2007, Katz made EIG an offer of $188 million. The Board of EIG announced in January 2008 that it would again recommend to its shareholders to reject this latest bid.

On January 28, 2008, Katz submitted an increased bid of $200 million and extended the offer's deadline to February 5, 2008. Katz was notified by EIG that all its members had unanimously agreed to sell the Oilers to him, pending league and financial approval. On June 18, 2008, the National Hockey League granted Daryl Katz final approval to purchase the team. On July 2, 2008, Katz was officially announced as the new owner of the Edmonton Oilers during a press conference at Rexall Place. He was presented with an Edmonton Oilers team jersey with the number "08" and his last name patched onto the back.

According to Katz, he bought the Oilers because Edmonton needed a new arena and an overall revitalization of its downtown. Rogers Place is owned by the city but operated by OEG. Rogers Place opened in September 2016. The facility operates throughout the year and includes a 24,000 square foot grand entrance-way (known as Ford Hall). Rogers Place is also the center of the Ice District which was built by Katz Group. The Ice District is one of Canada's largest mixed-use sports and entertainment development.

In June 2014, Katz Group announced  Bob Nicholson’s role as Vice-Chairman of Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), a new sports and entertainment company managing the Katz Group's growing sports and entertainment assets including Rogers Place, the new home of the Edmonton Oilers. Nicholson was made CEO of OEG in April 2015 and given responsibility for both business and hockey operations.

In 2021, OEG was valued by Sportico at $2 billion, including the Oilers team and its related businesses.

In addition to the Oilers, OEG owns and operates the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL), and Bakersfield Condors (AHL).

Katz is married to Edmonton-born Renee Gouin.  The couple have twin children, Chloe and Harrison, who are the founders of the nonprofit Hockey Helps Kids organization.