New chief for Betfair

According to reports Sunday in the Telegraph and a wide range of other British newspapers, online gambling group Betfair has decided on its replacement for chief executive David Yu, who resigned earlier this year.

The selection of Paddy Power’s chief operating officer, Breon Corcoran, for the post ends a five month search and confounds numerous experts who punted Ian Dyson and/or Stephen Morana as the front-runners for the appointment.

Corcoran is currently responsible for the Irish bookmaker’s technology platform, and is therefore well qualified to lead the technologically advanced Betfair.

He takes over at a difficult time both economically and in a corporate sense; Betfair has experienced a drain of experienced managers – most recently the departure of Robin Osmond and chairman Ed Wray – and the share price has declined dramatically from GBP13 at its IPO listing late last year to the present circa GBP 7.69.

Betfair has so far declined to comment on the news that Corcoran has been chosen which was broken by television channel Sky News.