Exclusive: bwin.party sees senior management departures
Business development director Alen Lang to move on while WPT boss Steve Heller leaves as part of cost reduction at California office
Three bwin.party senior managers are set to leave the operator, the first high profile departures since CEO Norbert Teufelberger initiated a streamlined business strategy in April.
Business development director Alen Lang, group technology director Tod Martin and World Poker Tour (WPT) chief executive Steve Heller are all leaving the firm, eGaming Review has learned.
Lang, most recently responsible for bwin.party’s US strategy, is to step down after eight years with the company. In the past 18 months he has established bwin.party’s US presence, clinching deals with MGM Resorts, Boyd Gaming and California tribe United Auburn., while also signing a UK-facing partnership deal with social operator Zynga.
Meanwhile, as part of a cost reduction exercise at the WPT office in Orange County, California, WPT chief executive Steve Heller has been made redundant. Heller joined Party Gaming in November 2005 and served as CEO of its Asian business before heading up the bwin.party-owned WPT.
WPT president Adam Pliska “ previously general counsel and secretary to the board of directors “ will now assume the role of WPT chief executive.
Former PartyGaming CTO Tod Martin is also heading for the exit following the recruitment of new bwin.party CTO Guy Duncan in January. It is understood Martin was relieved of his role with Duncan’s appointment and has since been working on the operator’s technology for its US-facing operations, with a full departure expected later this year.
A bwin.party spokesperson said the operator does not comment on specific management changes.
The moves could be followed by more internal changes as the operator aims to improve operational efficiency, according to a source close to the matter.
In April Teufelberger announced a strategy of focusing on regulated and regulating territories and prioritising value over volume in the dot.com space. The initiative hit the operator’s Q1 revenues with all verticals showing decline year-on-year, but Teufelberger remained confident of future growth saying the group needed to “do less, but do it better”.