Anthony Lacavera

Lacavera was born in 1974 in Welland, Ontario. His father was a lawyer and a high school teacher.{{cite web |title=Laughed out of 84 Investor Meetings, by @tommy |url=https://ceo.ca/@tommy/running-against-the-wind-tony-lacavera-globalive-technology-live |website=ceo.ca |access-date=28 July 2022}} His sister Catherine is also a businesswoman and was among the list of Fortune's 40 Under 40 in 2013.{{cite web |title=40 Under 40 2013 |url=https://fortune.com/40-under-40/2013/ |website=Fortune |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en}}

He went to Notre Dame College School in Welland,{{cite news |title=Welland man?s company bought for $1.6 billion |url=https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news/niagara-region/2016/01/04/welland-man-s-company-bought-for-1-6-billion.html |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=niagarafallsreview.com |date=4 January 2016 |language=en}} and Neuchâtel Junior College in Neuchâtel, Switzerland until 1993.{{cite web |last1=Neil |first1=Brenda |title=Students Step Outside of Their Comfort Zones {{!}} Neuchâtel Junior College |url=https://preferredmagazine.ca/students-step-outside/ |website=Preferred Magazine |access-date=28 July 2022 |date=6 January 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Leong |first1=Melissa |title=How to build a CEO: Raising your kids for business success |url=https://financialpost.com/personal-finance/how-to-build-a-ceo |website=Financial Post |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en |date=14 September 2013}} He went to University of Toronto and joined Applied Science and Engineering school and graduated in computer engineering in 1997.{{cite web |title=Anthony Lacavera - Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) 1997 |url=https://alumni.utoronto.ca/news-and-stories/featured-alumni/anthony-lacavera |website=University of Toronto Alumni |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en}} In 2012, he has also received an honorary diploma in "Business and Entrepreneurship" from the Niagara College.{{cite web |title=encore - Winter 2013 by Niagara College Canada - Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/niagaracollege/docs/encore_winter_2013/24 |website=Issuu |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en}}

He played Junior "B" ice hockey leagues in Welland and Thorold.

After graduation, Lacavera founded Globalive in 1998 with a $25,000 small business loan from the Royal Bank of Canada. Globalive is a telecommunications and investment company based in Toronto, Ontario.

The first operating company was Canopco, a communication company in the hospitality industry, supplying hotels and hospitals with a variety of services.{{cite web |last1=Avery |first1=Simon |title=THE NEW PLAYERS |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-new-players/article1205947/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en-CA |date=12 December 2009}} In 1999, he founded InterClear, a billing and collection service and then in 2000, Assemble Conferencing. These are three companies were merged into each other and started calling Globalive Communications, which was later converted into Globalive.{{cite web |last1=Castaldo |first1=Joe |title=How Tony Lacavera is helping Canadian startups cross the "Valley of Death" |url=https://archive.canadianbusiness.com/innovation/anthony-lacavera-globalive-capital-valley-of-death/ |website=canadianbusiness.com |access-date=28 July 2022}}

In 2001, he co-founded Enunciate Conferencing with two partners, which was sold to Premiere Global Services for USD $28.3 million in 2006. In 2003, he founded OneConnect Services through his Globalive, to provide communications technologies to small and medium sized businesses.{{cite news |title=Globalive Capital announces the sale of Yak Communications, OneConnect Services Inc. and Canopco |url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/globalive-capital-announces-the-sale-of-yak-communications-oneconnect-services-inc-and-canopco-592581821.html |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=www.newswire.ca |language=en}}

Lacavera through his Globalive acquired Yak Communications for all-cash USD $67.7 million in 2006, a communications company founded in 1991 by Charles Zwebner.{{cite news |title=Yak Communications Inc. to be Acquired for $5.25 per Share in an All Cash Offer by Gl... - Sep. 21, 2006 |url=https://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/06165370.htm |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=CNN Business |date=21 September 2006}}{{cite news |title=Yak Communications agrees to $67.7M US friendly takeover |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/yak-communications-agrees-to-67-7m-us-friendly-takeover-1.596807 |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=CBC |date=21 September 2022}}

In 2008, Globalive founded WIND Mobile, a wireless telecommunications provider, and Lacavera became the Founder CEO of the company.{{cite news |last1=Lamont |first1=Jonathan |title=Wind Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera wants to buy Freedom Mobile |url=https://mobilesyrup.com/2021/12/18/wind-founder-anthony-lacavera-buy-freedom-mobile/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=MobileSyrup |date=18 December 2021 |language=en}} He also founded an investment firm, Globalive Capital Inc.{{cite news |title=Wind Mobile CEO to step down; Orascom to gain control |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/windmobile-lacavera-idUSL1E9CII0M20130118 |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=Reuters |date=18 January 2013 |language=en}} In 2015, Lacavera stepped down as a CEO of Globalive Capital and appointed its previously chief financial officer, Brice Scheschuk as the new CEO.{{cite web |title=Brice Scheschuk {{!}} Globalive Capital by Entrepreneurs in Small Rooms Drinking Coffee |url=https://anchor.fm/smallrooms/episodes/Brice-Scheschuk--Globalive-Capital-egn92a |website=Anchor |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=en}}

He also started an augmented reality solutions company, a joint venture between Globalive and Gibraltar Ventures's XMG Studios, called Globalive XMG.{{cite web |title=Gibraltar AR Investment {{!}} Gibraltar & Company News |url=https://www.gibraltarcompany.ca/news/gibraltar-ar-investment |website=www.gibraltarcompany.ca |access-date=28 July 2022}} Globalive XMG was later sold to the Los Angeles-based Civic Resource Group's CivicConnect.{{cite news |last1=Spence |first1=Rick |title=Tony Lacavera: Businesses have to be on the hook to invest in Canadian startups |url=https://financialpost.com/entrepreneur/fp-startups/tony-lacavera-businesses-have-to-be-on-the-hook-to-invest-in-canadian-startups |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=Financial Post |date=6 June 2016 |language=en}}

Anthony closed a deal of $1.6 billion to sell WIND Mobile to Shaw Communications in March 2016, which Shaw renamed it to Freedom Mobile.{{cite news |title=Shaw Communications buying Wind Mobile in deal valued at $1.6 billion |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/shaw-wind-mobile-1.3368863#:~:text=Shaw%20Communications%20announced%20Wednesday%20that,Wind%20Mobile%20for%20%241.6%20billion. |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=CBC |date=16 December 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Bradshaw |first1=James |title=Shaw enters wireless market with closing of Wind Mobile deal |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/shaw-announces-closing-of-wind-mobile-deal/article28983065/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=1 March 2016 |language=en-CA}} The same year in September, Lacavera also sold his other three companies including the Yak Communications to Distributel, OneConnect Services and Canopco to Accelerated Connections Inc (ACI).{{cite news |title=Globalive Capital announces the sale of Yak Communications, OneConnect Services Inc. and Canopco |url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/globalive-capital-announces-the-sale-of-yak-communications-oneconnect-services-inc-and-canopco-592581821.html |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=www.newswire.ca |date=7 September 2016 |language=en}}

In March 2022, Lacavera showed an interest to reacquire Freedom/Wind from Shaw in a pending merger with Rogers Communications for C$3.75 billion to satisfy regulatory concerns.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/carriers/rogers/freedom-mobiles-original-founder-bids-3-75-billion-to-buy-it-back-from-rogers/|title = Freedom Mobile's Original Founder Bids $3.75 Billion to Buy it Back from Rogers | iPhone in Canada Blog|date = 16 March 2022}}{{cite news |title=Globalive offers $3.75 billion in cash for Freedom Mobile, says media report |url=https://financialpost.com/telecom/globalive-offers-3-75-billion-in-cash-for-freedom-mobile-says-media-report |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=Financial Post |date=16 March 2022 |language=en}} After an unresponsive behavior from Rogers, Lacavera's Globalive directly went to Shaw making the same offer to buy the company.{{cite news |title=Globalive goes directly to Shaw with its $3.75 billion bid for Freedom Mobile |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/06/03/globalive-goes-directly-to-shaw-with-its-375-billion-bid-for-freedom-mobile.html |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=Toronto Star |date=3 June 2022 |language=en-CA}}

In 2008, Lacavera co-produced the all-African-American Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, starring James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and Terrence Howard.{{cite news |last1=Brantley |first1=Ben |title=Yet Another Life for Maggie the Cat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/theater/reviews/07roof.html |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=7 March 2008}} The production, with some roles recast, had a limited run (2009 – April 2010) in London's West End Productions. It received Laurence Olivier Award for Best Revival in 2010.{{cite news |title=Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Novello from 21 Nov 2009 |url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-at-novello-from-21-nov-2009https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-at-novello-from-21-nov-2009 |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=London Theatre |date=8 June 2016 |language=en}}

He has also co-produced Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire in 2012, another play by Williams. It was directed by Emily Mann, starring Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Wood Harris.{{cite news |last1=Rooney |first1=David |title=A Streetcar Named Desire: Theater Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/a-streetcar-named-desire-theater-314871/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=22 April 2012}}

He started a media company, Globalive Media, with journalist Michael Bancroft, produced and premiered its first television series, Beyond Innovation, a weekly technology and business related program, aired in November 2018 on Bloomberg TV globally.{{cite news |title=Globalive Media Takes Viewers "Beyond Innovation" With Insider's Look At Technology's Top Changemakers Around The World |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/globalive-media-takes-viewers-beyond-innovation-with-insiders-look-at-technologys-top-changemakers-around-the-world-300747830.html |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}} In March 2020, the second season of the half-hourly series premiered on Bloomberg.{{cite news |title=Globalive Media Launches Second Season of "Beyond Innovation" to Discover Technology's Top Entrepreneurs Transforming Our World |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2020-03-10/globalive-media-launches-second-season-of-beyond-innovation-to-discover-technology-s-top-entrepreneurs-transforming-our-world |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=Bloomberg Television |date=10 March 2020 |language=en}}

In 2012, Lacavera started "Lacavera Prize" in partnership with The Entrepreneurship Hatchery at the University of Toronto, to help university students looking to start an entrepreneurial venture.{{cite web |last1=Mitchell |first1=Marit |title='We need to celebrate our successes': Tony Lacavera tells The Hatchery how Canadian entrepreneurs can win |url=https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/we-need-to-celebrate-our-successes-tony-lacavera-tells-the-hatchery-how-canadian-entrepreneurs-can-win/ |website=U of T Engineering News |access-date=28 July 2022 |date=24 November 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Czikk |first1=Joseph |title=U of T's Modly Takes 2013 Lacavera Prize for Entrepreneurship {{!}} BetaKit |url=https://betakit.com/u-of-ts-modly-takes-2013-lacavera-prize-for-entrepreneurship/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=BetaKit |date=19 September 2013 |language=en-CA}} Kepler Communications is one of successful telecommunications companies which won the prize and founded in 2015 by the University's four graduate students.{{cite news |last1=Irving |first1=Tyler |title=Four student startups - Entrepreneurship Hatchery Demo Day |url=https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/four-engineering-student-startups-from-this-years-hatchery-demo-day/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=U of T Engineering News |date=15 September 2015}}

He is director and co-chair of NEXT Canada, a non-profit organization.{{cite web |title=Tony Lacavera doesn't think Canada should be pursuing a deal with Amazon {{!}} IT World Canada News |url=https://www.itworldcanada.com/article/tony-lacavera-doesnt-think-canada-should-be-pursuing-a-deal-with-amazon/396857 |website=www.itworldcanada.com |access-date=28 July 2022 |date=22 September 2017}} He is also a founding partner of the Creative Destruction Lab, a nonprofit organization,{{cite news |title=Press Release {{!}} NYU Stern Announces the Establishment of the First Creative Destruction Lab in the U.S. - NYU Stern |url=https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/news-events/nyu-stern-announces-establishment-first-creative-destruction-lab-u-s |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=www.stern.nyu.edu |date=10 October 2017 |language=en}} with five locations at different educational institutes in Canada and the United States.{{cite news |title=Creative Destruction Lab joins UW Foster School of Business, establishing CDL-Seattle |url=https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/05/20/creative-destruction-lab-joins-uw-foster-school-of-business-establishing-cdl-seattle/ |access-date=28 July 2022 |work=UW News |date=20 May 2021 |language=en}}

• How We Can Win: And What Happens to Us and Our Country If We Don't (Penguin Random House Canada, 2017){{cite web |title=How We Can Win by Anthony Lacavera and Kate Fillion |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/550087/how-we-can-win-by-anthony-lacavera-and-kate-fillion/9780735272590 |website=Penguin Random House Canada |access-date=28 July 2022 |language=English}} – {{ISBN|073527259X|9780735272590}}

• Anthony Lacavera was among the Canada's Top 40 Under 40 list in 2005.{{cite web |title=Canada's Top 40 Under 40 - Honourees 2005 |url=https://canadastop40under40.com/honourees-2005.html |website=canadastop40under40.com |access-date=28 July 2022}}
• He was named CEO of the Year in Canada in 2010 by The Globe and Mail.{{cite web |title=Diversity Magazine's Visionary Stars |url=http://diversityexpo.org/Trending.html |website=diversityexpo.org |access-date=28 July 2022}}
• He was named an Honorary Fellow of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto in 2012.{{cite web |title=Anthony Lacavera, Chairman and CEO, Wind Mobile and Globalive Group {{!}} C.D. Howe Institute {{!}} Canada Economy News {{!}} Canadian Government Policy |url=https://www.cdhowe.org/essential-public-policy-events/anthony-lacavera-chairman-and-ceo-wind-mobile-and-globalive-group |website=www.cdhowe.org |access-date=28 July 2022}}
• He received an honorary diploma in "Business and Entrepreneurship" from the Niagara College.
• He received Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (Commander) from the Government of Italy in 2012.{{cite news |url=https://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2012/2012-03-31/html/gh-rg-eng.html |title=Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 146, Number 13: Government House|access-date=July 29, 2022 |work=canadagazette.gc.ca |language=en}}
• He was named to the University of Toronto's Engineering Hall of Distinction in 2013.

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Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian businesspeople

Category:Businesspeople from Ontario

Category:Canadian venture capitalists

Category:Canadian company founders

Category:Canadian business executives

Category:20th-century Canadian businesspeople

Category:21st-century Canadian businesspeople

Category:University of Toronto alumni