Calvin Ayre: The Biography of a Billionaire

Not many people make the jump from the farmlands of northern Canada to membership in the global billionaire’s club, but that’s exactly the storyline of Calvin Ayre’s dream life.

Born to farmer parents on May 25, 1961 in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan—a small town on the 53rd parallel that he says is colder than a well digger’s belt buckle—Ayre founded online giant Bodog Entertainment with just $10,000 in 1994. Since then, the company’s grown from a small online gambling startup into a multi-faceted global entertainment brand.

Although he’s always maintained the hard work ethic of his upbringing in the frigid Canadian climate, Calvin’s now hotter than one of the lavish, bikini-littered Antiguan pool parties that he’s been known to throw at the luxury compound he maintains in that country.

“It’s safe to say my life’s changed pretty substantially since those days on the farm,” says Ayre. “A private jet, a few houses in the tropics and many, many more beautiful women.”

The ambitious entrepreneur was named one of Star Magazine’s most eligible billionaire bachelors and graced the cover of Forbes Magazine’s 2006 billionaires’ issue. “Being named one of Star’s hottest bachelors isn’t too bad for the reputation,” says Ayre, “but being on the cover of Forbes? That’s like winning the Super Bowl for a business man.”

Calvin’s pioneering success in online gambling now branches into areas like television and music, with signed artists like legendary hip-hop act Wu-Tang Clan and production of some of the largest events in mixed martial arts history. In fact, Bodog Fight: Clash of the Nations drew a sold-out crowd to St. Petersburg’s Ice Palace, an audience that included Russian President Vladimir Putin who invited Ayre and the Bodog fighters back to his residence after the event.

“It’s been a long, strange trip these last few years, but that one was a real honor,” says Ayre of the invite from Putin. “It’s not every day that you get to go to dinner at the home of a head of state.”

After so much success, Ayre’s focus has shifted toward international expansion in recent years. In 2007, Bodog began to enlarge the staff of the European operation and hired a general manager to construct a plan for expanding into Asia. In fact, www.bodoglife.co.uk launched in December 2007.

Ayre is also a committed philanthropist, donating countless hours and dollars to the Calvin Ayre Foundation, which, among other things, focuses on improving the health and educational conditions of under-privileged children and fighting the good fight against bear bile farming.

“What’s the good of being successful if you can’t share it and have a little fun in the process?” Ayre says.

The foundation recently helped finance an upgrade to a school on Ayre’s tropical island home of Antigua, and he says he’s happy to give back to the island.

“We recently completed the relocation of Bodog’s global head office and gaming operations to Antigua,” says Ayre. “Antigua is heaven. I probably sound like a broken record because I've been telling everyone I meet how great things have been since the move to this tropical paradise, but it's the truth. I’m not sure how I can ever repay the Antiguan people for what they’ve given me.”

In the spring of 2008, Ayre officially announced his retirement from Bodog Entertainment to focus on the works of his charitable foundation, though he doesn’t plan on giving up his bad boy lifestyle anytime soon.

“With the global expansion of Bodog Entertainment in the last few years, I’ve spent so much time traveling the world that I’ve rarely stayed in one location for more than a few weeks at a time,” says Ayre. “Now that I’m retired, I plan to take full advantage of living in the tropical paradise that is Antigua. The sun, the beaches, the girls… It’s amazing.”