Mitch Garber C.M., is a Canadian lawyer and former Co-Founder/ CEO of Optimal Payments/Paysafe (Nasdaq), CEO PartyGaming Plc/PartyBwin (LSE) and Caesars Acquisition Company /Playtika Ltd. (Nasdaq). He was the inaugural Chairman of Invest in Canada, the Canadian agency responsible for foreign investment in Canada, from 2018-2022.
He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2019.
He is an active investor and co-invests with lead principals, including; Apollo, TPG, David Bonderman/Wildcat, and Fosun, and sits on several boards, including Rackspace Technology (RXT), Shutterfly Inc., , Aiola.com (Israel), and Lanvin Group (France/China).
He is a minority owner and executive committee member of the NHL Seattle Kraken, majority owned by TPG Founder David Bonderman and Samantha Holloway. He also sits on the Board of the One Roof Foundation, the charity arm of the team and the Climate Pledge Arena.
He was the non-executive Chairman of Cirque Du Soleil, a TPG/Fosun holding, from 2015-2020.
He sits on the board and leads a number of philanthropic activities in Canada and Israel. He co-chaired the 2016 Centraide/United Way campaign in Montreal, raising in excess of $55 million, and co-chaired a two year $130m campaign for Combined Jewish Appeal (2020/21).
He has a BA from McGill University ('86), a law degree from the University of Ottawa ('89) , an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa ('17), The McGill/Desautels Business School Achievement award (2017), the University of Ottawa Order of Merit ('20) , and an Honorary Doctorat from the Université de Montreal Faculty of Law ('21).
He is married to Anne-Marie Boucher a tax lawyer, and active philanthropist. Anne-Marie currently sits on a number of non-profit boards including; Alpine Canada, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, The McCord Museum, The Weizmann Institute, Aleh Rehabilitation Hospitals, and the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF). All of their charitable donations are made through the Anne-Marie and Mitch Garber Family Foundation. Anne-Marie also sits on the boards of ultra low cost airline startup Lynx airlines, and healthcare company Carebook Technologies.
Mitch and Anne-Marie have two adult sons, and the family resides in Montreal, Canada.