Morana to step down as Betfair CFO
Former interim CEO says "the time is now right" to leave after operator enters "new era" under Breon Corcoran's stewardship.
Betfair chief financial officer Stephen Morana announced this morning that he will step down from his role and leave the exchange operator once a successor has been identified.
Morana’s decision comes little over a month after his tenure as interim chief executive came to an end with the arrival of former Paddy Power COO Breon Corcoran.
He said: “It’s been a very difficult decision to make but I feel the time is now right, for both me and the company, to move on.”
Morana has spent 10 years with the London-listed business, rising to the post of finance director in 2005 and becoming chief financial officer the following year. He took over as interim CEO in January 2012 following the departure of David Yu, while Corcoran underwent a period of gardening leave following his Paddys exit.
Among his most notable achievements in the last year was overseeing the launch of Betfair’s fixed-odds sportsbook, which went live in the UK in May, and in a recent interview with eGaming Review he also expressed his pride in the company’s successful ‘don’t settle for less’ marketing campaign.
As CFO and then interim CEO he also oversaw the completion of the Betfair’s re-architecture programme – including the integration of the ‘cash out’ function in 2011 – and led the company through one of the most turbulent periods in its history with regulatory challenges in Europe and California and a period of recovery following the company’s post-IPO share price slump.
Betfair chairman Gerald Corbett, who himself only joined the operator this year, said in a statement ahead of the company’s annual general meeting today: “We understand why, after ten years, Stephen would like to start thinking about the next stage of his career and hand the reins over to a new CFO.
“On behalf of the whole company I would like to convey our immense gratitude to Stephen for the work he has put in to make the business the success it is today, and in particular, the excellent job he did as Interim CEO,” added Corbett.
- Meanwhile, eGR has also learned that head of global infrastructure Tim Turner has also left the company after six years. Turner, who is currently on gardening leave, began life at Betfair as its network and systems architect in January 2007 moving to the position of network and data centre manager in early 2009, taking his last role at the end of last year.