Interesting profile on successful online gambling executive
News on 18 Apr 2017
News on 18 Apr 2017
Bloomberg business news has published an interesting profile on Mitch Garber (52), the online executive who started out as a lawyer before becoming successfully involved as a leader in major online gambling companies that include Party Gaming and Caesars Interactive Entertainment.
He has been well rewarded; Bloomberg reports that last year his salary of $1.7 million was eclipsed by $210 million, his reward for selling off the CIE social gaming business to a Chinese consortium for $4.4 billion – 18 times more than the company paid for it – and his stock options and company shares.
The interesting article showcases another side of Garber, his involvement as chairman of Cirque du Soleil and efforts to bring a Major League Baseball club back to his native Quebec, along with his earlier involvement in television sportscasting and as a judge in the French-language version of the business competition show “Shark Tank.”
Garber’s initial engagement with the gambling industry began as a lawyer, leading to his more commercial involvement with a Bell Canada payments processing subsidiary. That led to an approach to run Party Gaming and his eventual move in 2009 to Caesars as the chief of its interactive activities, then worth just $35 million – a million of it from Garber’s personal investment.
Playtika was one of Garber’s major achievements; bought by Caesars for just $110 million, in 2011 the Israeli social gaming company had 13 employees and boasted an EBITDA of $10 million.
Caesars (and Garber personally) invested in subsequent acquisitions for the company that brought the total investment to $250 million.
Playtika is projected to earn $400 million this year thanks to continual innovation and additions to its appeal.
The interesting piece can be accessed here:
