Investors in the Toronto-based Middle-Eastern restaurant chain claim the company has been losing money since 2015 and is insolvent. The group, controlled by Ali Noureddine, owns 75 per cent of the company but shares 50/50 voting rights with founder and CEO Mohamad Fakih. Each party wants the other to cede its control. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Fakih, originally from Lebanon, has earned accolades for rapidly growing the Paramount chain through a model of “kinder capitalism.” Outside his restaurants, he’s well known for his philanthropy and social activism. In 2021, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce named him CEO of the Year and he received an Order of Canada. But Fakih’s investors—who say they’ve contributed about $25 million to the company between 2015 and 2021—allege he made “improper payments to himself and his family members, his personal holding company and others from the Paramount Group,” that he failed “to invest promised funds” into the company and misrepresented and concealed “the true financial affairs of the Paramount Group.” Fakih denies the claims and says Noureddine owes him $4 million in promised funds. None of the allegations have been proven in court.