A good year for Betfair boss
News on 18 Jul 2015
News on 18 Jul 2015
After a successful year in which he achieved all but one of the targets he had been set by the board of directors, Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran pocketed a GBP 10 million bonus, previously agreed when he joined the company (then in disarray) back in 2012.
The bonus is over and above his remuneration package, The Guardian newspaper reports, quoting from the company’s 2014 annual report, which revealed that including bonus Corcoran received GBP 11.6 million.
Corcoran’s bonus was conditional on the achievement of three major targets; two he accomplished and the third was removed in an overwhelming vote by shareholders in January this year.
Betfair has comfortably been among the best stock market-listed gambling groups at generating returns for its shareholders over the past three years, the newspaper notes.
The Guardian asked Betfair founder and major shareholder Ed Wray for his view on the big bonus, to which Wray responded: “It is a large amount, but … I couldn’t be more happy to be paying him what we are paying him. As a shareholder, I think it is important to reward that kind of value creation.”
There’s little doubt that Corcoran has added great value to the company; growing UK customer numbers by 250 percent and boosting share value from GBP 750 million to GBP 2.3 billion
His innovations include the introduction of a conventional bookmaking online operation to complement the core betting exchange business of Betfair, with the new addition handling bets worth GBP 1.2 billion…not far short of Ladbrokes… in 2014.
Betfair’s annual report revealed that the company delivered a strong performance, increasing its market share and bringing in more recreational punters, with a 52 percent increase in active customers over the year.
Corcoran’s strategy of moving away from “gray” markets where regulatory or legal problems may be encountered has paid off, with a more reliable income and only 18 percent of revenue emanating from markets that Betfair management consider to be ultimately unsustainable.
