Betsson AB CEO Ulrik Bengtsson is resigning his position with the company after having served in the position since March, 2016. The reasons for Bengtson’s abrupt departure are still murky and speculation is running rife as the gaming industry tries to fill in the blanks.
Here’s what we know so far about Bengstsson’s Monday resignation from official sources. Sometime on Monday, company officials issued a press release saying that Bengstsoon had resigned his position as CEO. Though the statement didn’t give the exact reason for the departure, Betsson’s Chairman of the Board Pontus Lindwall struck a positive note saying:
Ulrik Bengtsson has done a good job for Betsson during the five years he has been employed by the Group. He has clarified the strategy and implemented significant product launches. On behalf of the Board and myself, I would like to thank Ulrik for his efforts.
Lindwall will be serving as the company’s CEO until a proper replacement is found for Bengstsson. Linwall should have little difficulty filling the departing CEO’s shoes, as that’s a position he personally held before hiring Bengtsson and moving the Chairman of the Board position.
Current Board member Patrick Svensk will take over the role of Chairman of the Board until Lindwall returns to the position.
While official statements from the company didn’t give any reasons for Bengtsson’s departure, the gaming media was quick to step in with theories to fill the gap. The most popular theory seemed to be that Bengstsson and the Board were in disagreement over how best to handle the changing regulatory environment in Turkey, Betsson’s biggest market.
Some also speculated that Bengtsson was not on board with the Board’s aggressive expansion policies, and that may have triggered his departure.
Regardless of what may be happening behind the scenes, the company’s public face was positive on the matter and the search for a new CEO is already underway.