What drives Mitch Garber today is different than what drove him at the beginning of his career

Over glasses of white wine and sparkling water, a well-dressed gathering of young professionals mingle excitedly between displays of Prada shoes and Tumi luggage at Holt Renfrew Men on Bloor Street in Toronto. They are eagerly waiting to hear Montreal born, Mitch Garber, one of Canada’s top CEO’s share his story of success this evening, an event presented by the W League of Weizmann Canada.

Upstairs, tucked away in a spacious personal shopping suite, 50-year-old Garber greets me, wearing an elegant pinstriped Dolce&Gabanna suit, no tie. Before we sit down side by side, he graciously offers me a bottle of water.

It takes only a few minutes to understand how Garber has been able to accomplish so much. Trying to keep up with this dynamic guy in conversation is no easy task. He speaks swiftly yet articulately, barely taking a pause to gather his thoughts as we chat about what drives him in business and in his personal life.

Garber’s career is astounding with impressive CEO appointments including Nasdaq listed Optimal Payments, Inc., and PartyGaming Plc., a London Stock Exchange listed online gaming and entertainment company.

His current net worth is the hundreds of millions. Garber is CEO of Nasdaq Caesars Acquisition Company (CACQ), which controls six properties; Planet Hollywood, Bally’s Las Vegas, The Cromwell Las Vegas, The Quad Las Vegas, Harrah’s New Orleans and the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore. He is also the CEO of Caesar’s Interactive Entertainment (CIE), a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment (CZR), considered one of the most profitable social and mobile game companies in the world, (it owns the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Recently, he was appointed as new chairman of Cirque du Soleil after it was purchased by private equity firm TPG Capital. Garber is investing several million dollars of his own into the Cirque Du Soleil brand.

But it wasn’t always easy for him. “I know it may not be acceptable to say this but as a kid I had a dream to be wealthy,” Garber says unapologetically. “My friends had homes and backyards with pools and basements. We had very little and lived in an upstairs apartment duplex.”

Garber remembers his parents arguing over finances – there was not enough money to pay rent or Jewish day school tuition for him and his younger sister, Donna. Because of his financially unpredictable childhood, Garber became “hungry to be successful and hungry to stay successful.”

He describes his father, Stephen, as a big dreamer who taught him a lot about entrepreneurship. Garber’s dad dropped out of school in eighth grade to support his family, and owned the first pizza delivery business in North America. He was addicted to playing the stock market, and lost his money several times. Sadly, he took his life at age 46, two weeks before Garber graduated with a law degree from the University of Ottawa.

After his father’s death, Garber wanted to be closer to his family and arranged to write his bar admission course in Montreal. As fate would have it, his first day of classes, he sat next to Anne-Marie Boucher, who would later become his life partner.

He worked hard to get what he wanted—which included simultaneously practicing law and acting as a sportscaster on a weekend radio show. (Always the multitasker, he hosted the radio show on the night of his own wedding).

What drives Garber today is different than what drove him at the beginning of his career. Now he’s determined to build teams of people that will become even more successful than he is. He enjoys the challenge of growing already successful brands like Caesars, and is instrumental in putting into action the strategies needed to attract younger generations to Vegas ( Garber says that for the first time ever, Vegas is seeing more revenues coming from non-gaming activities).

Garber keeps a watchful eye over the casinos he controls, travelling to Nevada every two weeks and visiting New York City and Tel Aviv regularly for other business. Back in Montreal, where he lives with his wife and their two teenage sons, Garber co-stars on the television show, Dans l’oeil du dragon, the French-Canadian version of Shark Tank. Despite a hectic schedule,  Garber and his wife devote themselves to numerous charities focusing on healthcare education and scientific research at home and in Israel, as well as providing access to water and sanitation in developing countries.

“If you would have asked me at 25, what philanthropy is, I wouldn’t have known what this means. Now it’s a huge part of my life, “ Garber says.

Together, they sit on many boards including those of McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine in Montreal and ALEH hospitals in Israel. They are substantial contributors to the Cell Architecture Lab of the Department of Structural Biology led by Dr. Emmanuel Levy at the Weizmann Institute in Israel ( Anne-Marie sits on the board), and the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Garber takes great pleasure in spending his fortune but feels equally happy when he’s giving it away. “At the end of the day, I will give away a lot of money,” he promises.

At his lavish 50^th birthday party in Montreal, musicians Lover Boy and Eddie Money entertained the crowd but guests were also asked to donate to his favourite charities, ALEH and ONE DROP Foundation (established by Cirque founder Guy Laliberte) in lieu of gifts. Garber and his friends raised over $150,000.

What’s next? Over the next five years, Garber is determined to build the interactive side of Caesars and expand Cirque du Soleil. And when his children are gone from the house, pursuing lives of their own, Garber hopes to start a venture fund buying Israeli companies.

Over the past few years, he has bought four Israeli companies and turned them into huge successes. “Israel is like the corporate Mossad (Israel’s Intelligence Agency). They have an amazing sense of entrepreneurship and do things quickly and brilliantly.”

Rumour also has it that he may be part of a group hoping to bring baseball back to Montreal. Is that a move made to endear him even more to his hometown fans?

“As long as I have a good reputation and my kids think that I’m a good dad, I’m a happy man.”

> This article by Rena Godfrey appeared in the 2015 Fall issue of  Lifestyles Magazine. Read more of Rena’s articles here.