Arguably there’s only one place that Pontus Lindwall would rather be than in the hotseat at surging Swedish-origin gambling company Betsson and that’s crossing the finishing line of the Tour de France on the Champs-Élysées wearing the Yellow Jersey.
For Lindwall, as his taut, athletic frame testifies, is a cycling devotee, undertaking a gruelling work-out up to five times a week to keep on top of his iGame.
Born in 1965, resident in his native Stockholm, married with three children, Lindwall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Betsson, (pictured above), is a veritable titan of the gambling industry, if not an iGaming legend.
Betsson, the Malta-headquartered Omnichannel he leads, has just posted an impressive Q1 that speaks, nay shouts, of strategic and corporate success.
If there is one blip on the company’s financial horizon it is their disappointing performance in volatile, inflation-wracked Argentina, bridgehead of their foray into the hot LatAm region.
But the remaining 22 Betsson markets deliver nothing but positive news — and the promise of even greater success and, by extension, more wealth for company stakeholders.
Powerhouse
It could be said that Pontus has been involved with this Swedish powerhouse since before birth.
For his father, Bill Lindwall, was Co-founder–with Rolf Lundström–of Betsson avatar AB Restaurang Rouletter in 1963, two-years before Pontus was born.
In 1972 Rouletter was renamed Cherryföretagen AB (Cherry), after it merged with another Swedish company that provided slot machines to restaurants in the Scandinavian nation.
Despite his father’s misgivings–he was warned: ‘Don’t go into the gaming industry; it is under too much political control’–Pontus, armed with a top class science degree, joined Cherry in 1991 as a software developer. By 1998 he had risen to become the company’s CEO.
Two-years earlier, in a flash frieze of perception, he had seen the future. And the future was iGaming.
With an eye on the vast potential of online betting, he co-founded NetEnt, an early digital enterprise later divested to stakeholders for a handsome profit.
Pontus has enjoyed three separate terms as CEO of Betsson; serving as a Board Member from 2011 to 2018 and Chair from 2011 to 2015 and 2016 to September, 2017.
Cherry On Top
Today Betsson–the company formally changed its name from Cherry and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 2006–is one of the most respected and progressive iGaming firms in the world, operating in 23 Regulated Markets across the European Union, the UK, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Kenya, Nigeria, Serbia, the US state of Colorado, et al.
Anyone wishing to follow their lead would be advised, in time-honoured fashion, to: ‘Get On Yer Bike’, like Pontus Lindwall, and pedal hard!
We hope you enjoy this Betsson Special and we also invite iGamers to read our exclusive Q&A with Pontus, coming soon.
Additional reporting and research by Lauren Harrison.
