G uy Laliberté is a Canadian self-made billionaire, entrepreneur, and artist who is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, the world's most famous and successful contemporary circus company. He began his career as a street performer, playing the accordion, walking on stilts, and eating fire. In 1984, he and a small group of fellow performers founded Cirque du Soleil in Quebec.

As the company's CEO and creative visionary, he transformed the traditional circus by removing the animal acts and creating a theatrical, character-driven spectacle that combined incredible acrobatics with artful music and design. This new form of circus art was a massive global success, with numerous resident shows in Las Vegas and touring shows around the world. He sold the majority of his stake in the company to a private equity firm in 2015, a deal that cemented his billionaire status. He is also a space tourist, having flown to the International Space Station, and a world-class professional poker player.