Coolbet was debt-free<\/a>, slightly profitable on the basis of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and sported breakeven operating income. Today, Coolbet, in Svendsen\u2019s estimation, is the jewel of the GAN crown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Coolbet founder notes the entity he started is the only part of GAN that\u2019s making money today, and \u201cIf you separated Coolbet from GAN, the value of Coolbet on its own would twice as much as GAN now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Svendsen has skin in the game. He owns 840,000 shares of GAN and his son is chief financial officer of Coolbet. Additionally, he mentored Coolbet\u2019s chief executive officer for 20 years.<\/strong><\/p>\nBoard, Organizational Structure Criticized<\/h2>\n Svendsen acknowledges that he wanted a role at GAN, as he wasn\u2019t ready to retire, and ultimately decided to leave the company because he was offered a mid-level role in Spain — a position well-below his qualifications.<\/p>\n
Still, he took issue with the board\u2019s apparent unwillingness to check Smurfit and its preference for using share options grants almost exclusively for directors and high-ranking executives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the Board is very professional at GAN. From what I heard, the Chairman is an old friend of the Smurfit family. Dermot Smurfit\u2019s uncle also serves on the Board,\u201d notes Svendsen. \u201cIn addition, the CFO of GAN, Karen Flores, serves on the Board. In my opinion, one of the responsibilities of the Board is to look after GAN\u2019s money; it does not seem wise to have the CFO serve on the Board. My general impression is that the Board is weak and more like a \u2018yes Dermot\u2019 Board.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nThe former Coolbet leader also said GAN\u2019s organizational structure is ineffective, with leaders spread across the world, making in-person meetings difficult.<\/p>\n
On a more positive note, Svendsen believes GAN has \u201cgreat potential,\u201d particularly if it embraces new leadership. He\u2019s optimistic about the growth prospects for iGaming in the US, and believes GAN could be an acquisition target<\/a> in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Coolbet CEO and founder Jan Svendsen recently took to LinkedIn with scathing commentary on GAN Ltd. (NASDAQ:GAN) — the gaming technology provider that acquired his company last year. Svendsen, a 35-year gaming industry veteran with a track record of starting companies and selling those entities to larger rivals, unleashed his criticism of GAN ahead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":215623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33810,16693],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Jan Svendsen Doles Out Critiscm Toward GAN, CEO Smurfit<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n