Calvin Ayre

Calvin Ayre was born on a pig farm in a small town in Canada. He remains proud of his humble upbringing, saying it instilled in him the values and the drive he needed to succeed in business.

Calvin started his first business fresh out of high school—running truckloads of fresh fruit from areas of abundance to areas of scarcity.

A stint working in commercial real estate in the mid-90s led to Calvin opening a technology hub that was the first in the city to offer clients high-speed internet access. Seeing his tenants succeed and fail gave him insights into what types of commerce would work online, which led to his joining the then-nascent online gambling sector.

Bodog

Initially, Calvin started as a technology provider for gambling operators. In time, he launched his own gambling site, Bodog, the success of which ultimately landed him on the cover of the 2006 Forbes ‘Billionaires’ issue.

Inspired by the example set by Virgin founder Richard Branson, Bodog became the launching point for a number of non-gambling ventures, including a record label, television production unit and a mixed martial arts league. All of these bore the Bodog brand, helping to steer awareness and traffic to the gambling site, allowing Bodog to claim market share from its competition.

Calvin embarked on a years-long promotional effort that, like Branson, put his face out front. Calvin appeared on MTV Cribs, VH1’s The Fabulous Life of… and other programs, as well as countless appearances in major print publications.

In time, Calvin decided he’d had enough of the spotlight and stepped down from an active role in the online gambling business. However, he retained the rights to the Bodog brand, which he licensed to other operators. This allowed him to refocus his efforts on new ventures and new technologies.

Blockchain

Calvin knew gambling would work over the internet because there’s no physical product that requires delivery. At its core, online gambling is all about payment processing, so he was intrigued early on by Bitcoin’s arrival on the scene.

Bitcoin offered a revolution in financial technology through instant settlement of transactions at low cost and with no middlemen. But Bitcoin also offered the promise of efficient and transparent data management, smart contract settlement and so much more.

Calvin believed in the concept of enterprise blockchain technology—capable of handling serious transaction volume at fees measured in fractions of a cent—on which world-beating utility-focused developments are possible.

The BSV Blockchain brings unprecedented efficiency, security and accessibility to fields as varied as supply chain management, medical record handling and governance. That’s in addition to more efficient payments, particularly in the form of stablecoins for low-cost international remittances. But for Calvin, the most exciting aspect of enterprise blockchain technology is its ability to realize Metanet.

Metanet

Metanet is the next evolution of the internet that simultaneously marks a return to the world wide web’s original decentralized peer-to-peer design. Metanet is the antidote to the overly centralized ‘Web2’ social media networks that lock your data behind their walled gardens.

Metanet will combine AI, IPv6 and enterprise blockchain technology—the BSV blockchain—to enable a new economy based on cost-efficient micropayments. The explosion of IP addresses available under IPv6 will enable the creation of an unprecedented number of new sites. Creators on these sites will foster direct connections with their audiences, eliminating rent-seeking middlemen from this process.

Property

While Calvin’s biggest successes to date have been in the digital realm, he keeps an eye out for opportunities in the physical world, particularly regarding real estate. Calvin has a passion for property design and has exercised that passion by designing a number of residences to his exact specifications.

In recent years, Calvin began applying this interest to the commercial property sector and started to build a portfolio across Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. This includes, among other projects, Canada Place,  a $40 million, multi-tenant, five-story office complex in St. John’s, Antigua that also features the island’s largest solar panel array. Vida del Ayre, a $40 million hilltop business retreat center overlooking Antigua’s scenic Jolly Harbour, is scheduled to open by the end of 2025.

But the crowning jewel of Calvin’s real estate ventures is the Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Antigua, a five-star resort on Antigua’s western shore. A partnership between the Ayre Group and the Nikki Beach Hospitality Group, the $400 million project is scheduled for completion in 2028. Calvin has made Antigua his adopted homeland for nearly two decades now, and he hopes the resort will make a lasting contribution to the island’s tourism and hospitality sectors.

Philanthropy

After achieving some success in business, Calvin formed the Calvin Ayre Foundation (CAF) to handle his philanthropic efforts. Keeping the mantra of ‘think global, act local’ firmly in mind, the CAF is active in both Antigua and the Philippines, jurisdictions in which Ayre Group operates.

The CAF focuses on a few key issues, including education, social development and emergency response efforts, and Calvin is justifiably proud of what the CAF team has been able to achieve over the years.