You probably heard about Le Cirque du Soleil, which has been
producing impressive live shows around the world.
Le Cirque du Soleil means ‘Circus of Sun’ in French; it is a
major Canadian entertainment company described as a contemporary circus. Two
street artists named Guy Laliberté and Daniel Gauthier founded it in 1984.
Since 2008, 2 investment companies ‘Dubai World’ own 20% of this entertainment business. However, because of the 2008
global recession that also brought financial problems in Dubai, it has been
stated that Laliberte
may be looking for new partners in order to reach the company’s goals. In
November 2010, Acadamy Award winner and Director James Cameron honored Guy
Laliberté with a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
Le Cirque du Soleil distinguishes itself from traditional
circuses, as it doesn’t show any types of animals; this company focuses mainly
on comedians and talented acrobats. Today, the company counts more than 4000 employees including more than 1000 professional reconverted athletes. Although the company
constantly has 9+ shows touring
around the world, it also includes 10 permanent shows based in Las Vegas,
Orlando, Tokyo, and Macao (with seasonal shows in New York City).
The company also participated to private as well as
corporate events such performances for Royal families and the 2007 SuperBowl.
In 2010 only, 11 million tickets had been sold; the Vegas
shows were over 97 per cent occupancy and brought in around 60 percent of
revenue. The production was financed with a $50 million fund raised by private investors
from the US and Canada. Revenues
for 2010 were $850 million!
In 2011, it was announced that Le Cirque du Soleil had
performed to over 100 million spectators in more than 300 cities.
In a questionnaire reported by Forbes, 57% of the U.S population
attends at least one live entertainment event each year and 85% said that they
heard of Le Cirque du Soleil. In
addition, a
hedge fund offered Laliberté $1 billion cash for a 50% stake and he clearly refused to take the offer.
Today, Guy Laliberte, 52, is #11 fortune of Canada with a net worth of $2.6 billion and became the first
fire-breather in space in 2009!
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