Guy Laliberte

At 65 years old, Guy Laliberte physical status not available right now. We will update Guy Laliberte's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Guy Laliberté (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and poker player.

He co-founded Cirque du Soleil, alongside Gilles Ste-Croix.

Laliberté, the 11th richest Canadian, was listed by Forbes in April 2015 as the 11th best-performing Canadian company after a change in ownership, but the company's leader, stiltwalker, and fire eater, Laliberté, established Cirque du Soleil, a Canadian circus group whose shows have since been seen by more than 90 million people worldwide, with a net worth of US$1.37 billion (as of January 2018).

In 2006, Laliberté was named Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year. In November 2019, he was arrested in Tahiti for smoking cannabis.

The product, according to his company, is grown for medical and personal use, and is not sold.

Early years

In 1959, Laliberté was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. His interest in show business began when his parents took him to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which led to his discovery of P. T. Barnum's biography. Although he was still in school, he produced several performing arts shows.

Laliberté left Canada after school to hitchhike around Europe at the age of 18. When traveling, he earned money by playing the accordion. During his travels in the United States, he learned fire-eating and stilt-walking, and after returning to Canada, he became a street performer on Quebec's streets. Laliberté's company, Les Échassiers, was a touring troupe that featured fire-breathers, jugglers, and acrobats who accompanied Laliberté around the country. He later returned to Quebec, where he worked at a hydroelectric dam full time. However, the company's workers went on strike shortly after his employment had begun. Laliberté had the opportunity to relive his life as a street performer.

In 1980, he ran as a Rhinoceros Party candidate for Charlevoix's electoral district.

Personal life

Kami, the son of Laliberté, is a racer competing in the European junior Championships. He won one race in F4 but there is no record of racing since 2017. Nama, his son, is a competitive dressage rider.

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Career

Laliberté and a select group of coworkers co-founded Cirque du Soleil in 1984. For the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada, the organization obtained a federal grant. Cirque du Soleil was originally intended to be a one-year project. However, Quebec's government wanted a tour event that would take place in other provinces. The word "cirque du Soleil" ("circus of the sun"), which Laliberté started with when he was in Hawaii, reflects his belief that "the sun stands for vitality and youth" and that the circus refers to those two terms.

Cirque du Soleil now has operations on five continents. Its shows that nearly 4,000 people from over 40 countries are enrolled in the program, with an estimated annual income exceeding US$810 million.

In 2015, he sold 90% of the company's shares. He sold the remaining 10% to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec on February 17, 2020.

Around 2006, Laliberté began playing high stakes online cash games and live tournaments for recreation. He finished fourth in the World Poker Tour Season Five event at Bellagio in Las Vegas in April 2007 and took home $696,220. He appeared on GSN's High Stakes Poker Season 4 show as well as being a part of Poker After Dark season 4 alongside Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth. He was also known for playing the most popular games on Full Tilt Poker.

The Big One, a US$1 million buy-in tournament that was featured at the 2012 World Series of Poker, was announced in Laliberté in 2011. Part of the prize money was donated to One Drop Foundation in Laliberté, which aims to distribute clean drinking water and hygiene products around the world. The tournament attracted 48 people, and Antonio Esfandiari claimed the $18,346,673 first-place trophy. The One Drop foundation's fundraising at $5,333,328.

The most money has been lost on online poker cash games, according to Laliberté. Laliberté has lost nearly US$31,000,000 on six accounts, including noataima, patatino, lady marmelade, elmariachimacho, Esvedra, and Zypherin.

Laliberté became the first Canadian space tourist in September 2009. He started on the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft and landed in Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft. His spaceflight was dedicated to raising concerns regarding humankind's water rights. The event was followed by a 120-minute webcast featuring various cultural performances in 14 cities on five continents, including the International Space Station.

The Federal Court of Appeals in May 2020 found that his trip should be primarily personal and not work-related, and that income tax was deductible on 90% of the trip's cost. The spaceflight's cost was $41,816,954.

In June 2011, Laliberté published Gaia, a book containing photos of Earth from his space flight. The One Drop Foundation would receive funds from his book.

In 2007, Laliberté became the owner of the atoll of Nukutepi in the French Polynesia. In May 2014, Laliberté told the Journal de Montréal that he wanted to build the atoll a shelter that could accommodate his family and friends in the event of a global disaster. "Because of all the events around the world, I said to myself, "I could go to places where, if an epidemic or total war, I could bring people I like and my family so that we'd be safe." It will be completely self-sufficient in terms of operation: solar, environmental, and ecologic, among other things.

Following his detention for cannabis cultivation, Laliberté's investment company Lune Rouge said on November 13th that "Laliberté is being investigated in respect of growing cannabis for his personal use only at the residence on Tahiti's island Nukutepi."

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