One of the most popular people in the gambling industry and yet a controversial figure, Teddy Saggi, is an Israeli businessman who is currently based in London. Saggi, who was ranked 65th in Forbes’ List of the Richest People in the Tech Industry and 495 in the Forbes’ List of Billionaires in 2016, is also known as one of the founders of the gaming software giant Playtech.
However, the story of Mr. Sagi is probably more impressive than the story of the software giant’s one. Currently the sixth of the richest people in Israel, Teddy Sagi was born in the country’s key cities Tel Aviv in 1971. The childhood of one of the richest Israeli billionaires passed in the Shikun Lamed neighbourhood, in the family of Ami Sagi – a travel agency owner – and his wife Lizi. Currently, he works and lives in London.
Although he was born in Israel, Sagi made most of his fortune outside the country. As for his personal life, the billionaire has been living with the 2006 Miss Israel Yael Nizri since 2010 and has three children with her.
As mentioned above, the businessman is one of the most controversial figures of the gambling industry not only in the UK, but also on a global scale. Former convicted felon for “grace deceit, bribery and insider trading”, he is the owner of the majority shares of Market Tech Holdings, which owns London’s Camden Market. Based on the Island of Guernsey, the company is still one of his most successful entities. It owns a large number of key properties in Central London, including some located in the most prominent neighbourhoods of the city.
Of course, this is not the only business venture related to Teddy Sagi. Apart from Market Tech Holdings and the gambling software provider Playtech, he also owns Crossrider – a company that specialises in the area of digital advertising industry. The Israeli billionaire also owns the majority share in the online payment processor SafeCharge. Previously, he also had a stake in TradeFX, but disposed of his share in the company for the massive price of $450 million.
What Sagi is probably best known for is the fact that in 1999 he became one of the founders of the gambling software developer Playtech, which is based in the Isle of Man, and managed to turn the supplier into a company generating nearly $500 million in sales.
At the end of November 2016 the Israeli billionaire was reported to have sold more than the 32.3 million Playtech shares he initially planned to dispose of. At the end, a total of 38.7 million shares were sold due to increased investors’ demand, and Sagi pocketed £329 million after the sale was finalised. As a result, the interest of the billionaire in the Isle of Man-based gambling software provider amounted to 21.6% of the company’s shares.
- Author
Harry Evans
