Mark Rivkin

Rivkin attended the University of Western Ontario before graduating in 1993. While there, he founded Campus Notes, a lecture note service used at the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario. After graduating, he started CryptoLogic Inc. with his brother Andrew. In 2003, Mark and Andrew left the company to explore new ventures. In 2005, he joined Groove Media Inc. as chairman, a company best known for its retail publishing activities through the Groove Games label. In 2004, Mark Rivkin co-founded QT Inc. He is a principal of the company along with Harvey Solursh.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7675832.stm |title=Spacemen invade enchanted forest |author=Julie Broadfoot |date=17 October 2008 |publisher= BBC Scotland |access-date=17 December 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=182474317 |title=Company Overview of Sound2Light Productions Ltd. |publisher= BusinessWeek |access-date=17 December 2012}}

Rivkin co-founded CryptoLogic in Toronto in February 1995 with his brother, Andrew Rivkin, as young graduates still living in their parents' basement.{{citation |url= |title=The odds look good. (Andrew and Mark Rivkin's management of gambling software firm CryptoLogic Inc) |author=Silcoff, Sean |date=10 April 1998 |access-date=}}{{cite news |url=http://www.twst.com/interview/5476 |title=Application Software Analysis: Andrew Rivkin - Cryptologic Inc. |date=3 July 2000 |newspaper= The Wall Street Transcript|access-date=17 December 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.canadacasinosonline.ca/casino-software/cryptologic-casinos.html |title=Cryptologic Casino Bonus |publisher= Canada Casinos Online|access-date=17 December 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article/cryptologic-welcomes-new-ceo-to-lead-company-in-its-next-growth-phase-123586 |title=Cryptologic Welcomes New CEO to Lead Company in its Next Growth Phase |date=12 December 2000 |publisher= Casino City Times|access-date=17 December 2012}} They started the project, using their own software, as a general Internet security software company.

Despite CryptoLogic's earlier purpose, Andrew and Mark soon started to focus on online gambling, which had become a growth industry since Antigua and Barbuda became the first country to legalize the practice in 1994.{{cite web |url=http://www.onlinegambling.com/online-gambling-history.htm |title=History of Online Gambling |publisher= OnlineGambling.com|access-date=17 December 2012}}

In 1996, after the brothers raised C$500,000 in venture capital, they gained their first licensee in InterCasino. InterCasino, the world's first real wager Internet casino, went online using CryptoLogic software.{{cite web|url=http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/23043/cryptologic-to-buy-online-gaming-licenses-from-intercasino-23043.html |title=CryptoLogic to buy online gaming licenses from InterCasino |author=Brad Lemaire |date=4 January 2012 |publisher=Proactive Investors |access-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108140250/http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/23043/cryptologic-to-buy-online-gaming-licenses-from-intercasino-23043.html |archive-date=8 January 2012 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/GAMBLING-GOLD-RUSH-A-congressional-push-2553894.php |title=GAMBLING ... GOLD RUSH? |author=Tom Somach|date=2 July 2007 |publisher= The San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=17 December 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/111081758/Cryptologic-Acquires-Licenses-For-Intercasino---CRYPTOLOGIC---1-4-2012 |title=Cryptologic Acquires Licenses For Intercasino |access-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226192231/http://www.docstoc.com/docs/111081758/Cryptologic-Acquires-Licenses-For-Intercasino---CRYPTOLOGIC---1-4-2012 |archive-date=26 December 2012 }} By 1998, CryptoLogic was considered a major player in the emerging online casino industry, with its software used by online casinos in Curaçao and Dominica as well as Antigua and Barbuda. By mid-2000, CryptoLogic software was used by over 500,000 online casino end users worldwide and processed over $4 billion in online transactions.{{cite web |url=http://www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/GOM-Awards-2009/Cryptologic.php |title=Best Casino Software: Cryptologic |author=Justin Thouin |publisher= Gambling Online Magazizne|access-date=17 December 2012}}

CryptoLogic was one of the largest online gaming platform providers in the world. The company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in September 1998 and on the NASDAQ stock exchange in March 2000.{{cite web |url=http://www.investegate.co.uk/Index.aspx?date=20110427&arch=1 |title=Company Announcements |date=27 April 2011 |publisher= InvestEgate|access-date=17 December 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/cryptologic-applies-for-delisting-of-its-shares-on-nasdaq-tsx-cry-1672137.htm |title=CryptoLogic Applies for Delisting of Its Shares on NASDAQ |date=21 June 2012 |publisher= The MarketWire|access-date=17 December 2012}} Andrew and Mark Rivkin Rivkin stepped down as CEO of CryptoLogic in January 2001 but remained on the company's board of directors.

{{cite web |url=http://www.cantechletter.com/2012/01/amaya-gaming-looks-to-acquire-cryptologic |title=Amaya Gaming Looks to Acquire Cryptologic |date=1 January 2012 |publisher= Cantech Newsletter|access-date=17 December 2012}}

Mark Rivkin co-founded QT Inc with a former CFO of CryptoLogic Inc., Harvey Solursh in 2004. QT Inc. is a Toronto-based investment company that specializes in commercial and residential real estate, private and commercial investments, development, mortgages, and financing.

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• [http://www.qtinc.ca/ QT Inc. Website ]

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Category:Canadian businesspeople

Category:University of Western Ontario alumni