Entain, a sports betting and gaming giant, revealed its chairman succession plan on Thursday.
Barry Gibson announced his intention to retire from his role as chair and from the board by the end of September 2024.
“It has been a privilege to lead the Board of Entain for the past four years, and while I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at this dynamic, exciting, and innovative business, I reflected a little while ago that 2024 would be the right time for me to retire,” Gibson said in the company’s press release announcing the changes.
Entain during Gibson’s tenure
Gibson has been on the Entain board since November 2019 and became chair in February 2020. He oversaw the company’s transformation from GVC to Entain and its joint venture with BetMGM has gone from a start-up to being a $2 billion revenue business with a strong market position in the U.S. legal sports betting industry.
Entain clocked a record level of online active customers with a 23% year-over-year increase when it reported its fiscal year 2023 results in March. BetMGM itself also finished at the top end of the company’s expectations and closed last year with a 36% year-over-year increase in net gaming revenue, claiming 14% market share in the sports betting and iGaming markets where the platform operates.
Entain’s new chair will be …
Stella David will take his place as chair upon Gibson’s retirement. David was a non-executive director and senior independent director from March 4, 2021 and became interim CEO of Entain in December 2023.
"Barry has been a wonderful mentor and source of wise counsel to so many people during his time as Chair of Entain, and I would like to personally thank him for his unwavering support," David said. "The fact that we now have a solid platform and a clear plan for future growth is due in no small part to his efforts."
David is also a non-executive director of both Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. as well as privately-owned Bacardi Ltd. She was previously chair of C&J Clark Ltd and also acted as interim CEO in that role, with other prior chair and non-executive director positions with Vue International, HomeServe plc, Nationwide Building Society, and Domino’s Pizza Group plc.
"The Board has been succession planning and reviewing potential options to replace him and we are delighted that Stella will be taking over as Chair," said Pierre Bouchut, senior independent director at Entain. "Her extensive Board and Chair experience as well as her time as Interim CEO will be hugely beneficial to the Board and the wider Group as she takes on her new role."
