TOP 100 MAGAZINE

Farhan Abbas

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Farhan Abbas is an entrepreneur, a strategist, a philanthropist, and a mentor. With an eye towards the future, Farhan is the CEO of PLK Holdings Inc., where he remains focused on growth. He’s board director and chairman of the audit committee at Marble Financial, a publicly traded fintech, and also serves on the advisory board at Future Vault Inc., a pioneer in personal life management digital vault. While Farhan has held myriad roles over the course of his career, the one thing that’s remained constant has been an unwavering willingness to pay it forward. Named 2020 Businessman of the Year by the CPBC in Canada, Farhan was also recognized by local parliament with the 2022 Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee Award for his service to community and country. Farhan has been a donor and advisory board member for ComKids Foundation since 2005 and was recognized for his support and dedication in 2018. He actively supports the Mississauga Mayors Food Drive, Surrey Hospital Foundation, The Citizens Foundation, and has been taking part in the Yorkville 5 km Charity Run since 2017.

 

Whether it’s a charitable function or professional endeavor, Farhan is passionate about every task he takes on. He’s consulted and provided capital markets advice to a number of publicly listed companies. It all started nearly 25 years ago, when he immigrated to Canada as a student. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a dual focus in accounting and finance, he moved to Toronto. Thereafter, he worked for State Street, Manulife, and RBC Capital Markets while completing CPA and CFA programs. Farhan delved into real estate before diving into the franchise business in 2014 with Popeyes, Paramount, and Yogurtys, and was awarded Franchisee of the Year in 2020. He started from scratch and is now the largest franchise owner with close to 50 locations and strategic plans to grow the franchise to 100 locations in the next five years, employing over 2,000 people along the way. “Creating teams and getting to work with people is really what I enjoy most,” he states. “I’ve been lucky to have great mentors throughout my life, including G. Scott Paterson, who took me under his wing, and that’s what I want to do for other people.”

 

Farhan Abbas

CEO — PLK Holdings Inc.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhan-abbas-cpa-cfa-39b5b213/