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EasyJet Founder Takes Steps Into Gambling Industry With EasyBet

An EasyJet plane on a runway

While it sounds like a pun based on the name of the site, this is no joke. EasyJet founder, and the owner of EasyGroup, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has been known to use his brand for a lot of different ventures. However, the billionaire has now taken steps into the world of gambling.

He will launch EasyBet, a joint venture with Matchbook—a trading name of Triplebet, which is an offshore gambling firm that actually had its license suspended in 2020.

Triplebet is currently owned by Zeljko Ranogajec, an Australian-born elusive millionaire. The Gambling Commission suspended Triplebet’s gambling licence back in 2020 and slapped the company with a £740,000 fine. Then, the compliance systems were totally changed, and now, Triplebet is functioning as normal again.

Ranogajec owns the brand through an Isle of Man-based holding company called Newfoundland Limited and has now signed a deal to provide gambling through the Easy brand. Matchbook is paying a fee to use the branding, and this is something other brands, including The Sun newspaper, have done in the past.

Haji-Ioannou described the deal as “a natural new market to complement our other large consumer brands”.

He is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of EasyJet, but he licences out his brand to other types of businesses. There have even been ventures in dog-walking and coffee within the brand he started.

EasyBet has wagers that can be placed on a number of different sportsbook markets, as well as things like current affairs and politics.

Matchbook is not like a lot of the other gambling sites as it uses the betting exchange model, which is similar to Betfair.

Customers can combine and take both sides of a wager in order to take the bet. This means an option to “lay” as well as bet.

Malcolm Graham, the current Chief Executive of Matchbook, explained that he was “thrilled that we will be supporting Stelios’ philanthropic activities via the license fees being paid to EasyGroup.”

He was referring to the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, a way for the Easy brand founder to give back to society and provide support for numerous different charitable organisations.

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