Guy Laliberté

Guy Laliberté

Guy Laliberté, OC CQ (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.[2]

Following an announcement from Cirque du Soleil in April 2015 concerning a change in ownership, Laliberté will maintain a stake in the business and will continue to provide strategic and creative input to the company.[3]

In 1984, Laliberté founded Cirque du Soleil. The Canadian circus company's shows have since been seen by more than 90 million people worldwide. Prior, he busked, performing as an accordion player, stiltwalker and fire-eater. In 2006, Laliberté was named the Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year.[4][5] In 2007, he was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Laliberté was born in 1959[6] in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. His interest in show business began at a relatively young age. His parents took him to watch the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus,[7] an experience which led Laliberté to read the biography of P. T. Barnum.[7] While he was still in school, Guy produced several performing arts events.[8] After school, he became a street performer, playing the harmonica and accordion on the streets of Quebec.[9] 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.[8] 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