TLDR
- Laurence Escalante has resigned as CEO and Executive Chairman of sweepstakes casino operator VGW, effective immediately.
- The move follows six months on leave after Western Australia Police charged him with family-violence and drug-related offenses.
- Acting CEO Mats Johnson will run the company while VGW searches for a permanent chief executive.
- The resignation comes less than a year after Escalante completed a $2.3 billion privatization of VGW.
- VGW still leads the U.S. sweepstakes market, though its top brands have lost market share amid rising competition and new state regulations.
Laurence Escalante has resigned as CEO and Executive Chairman of VGW. He founded the sweepstakes casino company in 2010.
The resignation took effect right away. Escalante had been on leave since January.
Acting CEO Mats Johnson will keep running VGW day to day. The company is now searching for a permanent chief executive.
Escalante said he is stepping down to focus on personal matters. He pointed to his private business interests, investments, and philanthropic work.
Johnson praised Escalante for building VGW from an idea in Perth into one of Australia’s largest unlisted companies. He also credited Escalante with pioneering the social gaming model that VGW uses.
Criminal Charges Preceded Departure
Escalante stepped aside in January after Western Australia Police charged him with multiple offenses. The charges relate to an alleged domestic incident involving his former partner.
Police say they also found illicit drugs during a search of his property. The charges include persistently engaging in family violence and criminal damage or destruction of property.
He also faces allegations of stealing, aggravated home burglary, unlawful assault, and drug possession with intent to supply. Escalante has denied all the allegations.
VGW said the charges are personal in nature and are not connected to the company’s operations.
His resignation comes less than a year after VGW went private. In August 2025, shareholders approved his offer to buy the remaining 30% of the company he did not already own.
That deal valued VGW at A$3.2 billion, roughly $2.3 billion. Escalante said going private would help the company manage regulatory and competitive pressure in the U.S.
The move followed a strong year of financial results. VGW brought in A$7.3 billion in revenue for the year ended June 30, 2025.
Profit rose 33.5% year over year to A$656 million. The flagship brand, Chumba Casino, made up A$5.2 billion of that total.
Regulatory Pressure Grows in the U.S.
Escalante’s exit comes as VGW faces more scrutiny in its biggest market. Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Iowa passed laws targeting the sweepstakes sector this year.
Those states joined California, Connecticut, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, which had already taken action against the industry.
The Kentucky Attorney General recently sued VGW. The lawsuit claims the company runs an illegal gambling platform in the state.
VGW still leads the U.S. sweepstakes casino market despite these challenges. Research firm Blask says Chumba held 19.2% of the market in May 2026 and was the top brand in 27 states.
LuckyLand Slots held another 5% of the market. Both brands lost ground compared to a year earlier as competition increased, with Chumba down from 22.4% and LuckyLand Slots roughly cut in half from 10.2%.
