Guy Laliberté, (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil. In January 2018, Laliberté was ranked by Forbes as the 11th wealthiest Canadian.
In 1984, Laliberté founded Cirque du Soleil. The Canadian circus company's shows have since been seen by more than 90 million people worldwide. Before founding the company, he had busked, performing as an accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater. In 2006, he was named the Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2007, he was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year.
Early years
Laliberté was born in 1959 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. His interest in show business began when his parents took him to watch the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, an experience which led him to read the biography of P. T. Barnum. While he was still in school, he produced several performing arts events.
After school, Laliberté left Canada to hitchhike around Europe at the age of 18. While travelling, he made money by playing the accordion. He also learned fire-eating and stilt-walking during his time abroad, and after returning to Canada, became a street performer on the streets of Quebec. Laliberté joined a performing troupe called Les Échassiers, which included fire-breathers, jugglers, and acrobats who hitchhiked around the country to shows. He later returned to Quebec, where he obtained a full-time job at a hydroelectric dam. However, soon after his employment began, the company's employees went on strike. Laliberté took the opportunity to return to his life as a street performer.
In 1980, he ran as a Rhinoceros Party candidate for the electoral district of Charlevoix in the 1980 federal election.
Career
Cirque du Soleil
Laliberté co-founded Cirque du Soleil in 1984 with Gilles Ste-Croix and a small group of colleagues. The group obtained the support of a government grant for the celebration of the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Cirque du Soleil was originally set up as a one-year project. However, the government of Quebec wanted a touring event that would perform in other provinces. The name 'Cirque du Soleil' ("circus of the sun"), which Laliberté came up with while he was in Hawaii, reflects his notion that "the sun stands for energy and youth" and that the circus is about those two words.
Cirque du Soleil now has activities on five continents. Its shows employ approximately 4,000 people from over 40 countries and generate an estimated annual revenue exceeding US$810 million.
In 2015 he sold 90% of his stock in the company. On 17 February 2020, he sold the remaining 10% to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.
Poker career
Laliberté started playing super high stakes online cash games and live tournaments for recreation around 2006. In April 2007, he finished fourth in the World Poker Tour Season Five event at Bellagio in Las Vegas and won $696,220. He also played on GSN's High Stakes Poker Season 4 show and took part in Poker After Dark season 4 alongside Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth. He was also known for frequenting the highest stakes games on Full Tilt Poker.
In 2011 Laliberté announced the Big One, a US$1 million buy-in tournament which was featured at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Part of the prize money was donated to Laliberté's philanthropic organization One Drop Foundation, which primary goal is to provide clean drinking water and hygiene products around the globe. 48 players participated in the tournament and Antonio Esfandiari won the $18,346,673 first-place prize. The tournament raised $5,333,328 for the One Drop foundation.
Laliberté has lost the most money on online poker cash games. Over his six accounts, noataima, patatino, lady marmelade, elmariachimacho, Esvedra and Zypherin, Laliberté has lost approximately US$31,000,000.
Spaceflight
In September 2009, Laliberté became the first Canadian space tourist. He launched on the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft and landed in the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft. His spaceflight was dedicated to raising awareness on water issues facing humankind. The event was accompanied by a 120-minute webcast program featuring various artistic performances in 14 cities on five continents, including the International Space Station.
In May 2020, Canada's Federal Court of Appeals ruled that his trip should be considered primarily personal, and not work related, and directed that income tax be assessed on 90% of the cost of the trip. The cost of the spaceflight was $41,816,954.