FanDuel co-Founder & CEO NIGEL ECCLES is "leaving the company and stepping down" from his role as Chair of its BOD to start an esports company, according to Kurt Wagner of RECODE. Yesterday was Eccles' last day at FanDuel. He had been "kicking around new startup ideas" ever since FanDuel and DraftKings "agreed to a merger late last year." Eccles was "set to be the chairman of the new joint company but he was not going to be CEO." That deal "fell through in July after the government threatened to block it to prevent the two companies from forming a monopoly." Eccles' replacement as CEO is MATT KING, who "served as FanDuel’s CFO for three years," ending in '16. He then "left and spent a year at insurance broker Cottingham & Butler before returning to FanDuel to become its CEO." King is "taking a board seat." Former Dish Network Vice Chair CARL VOGEL and former Fox Sports Head Of Business Operations DAVID NATHANSON are "also joining the board" (RECODE.net, 11/20). ESPN.com's David Purdum noted Eccles founded FanDuel in '09 and is "considered the 'Godfather of daily fantasy sports' by some in the industry." Under his direction, the company "rose to the top of the daily fantasy industry" alongside DraftKings (ESPN.com, 11/20). Eccles tweeted of his departure, "Excited but a little bit sad to be leaving @fanduel today. It has been an amazing 8 years. Really excited to see how Matt King and the team drive the company in 2018 and beyond. For me I'm building something awesome in eSports. Watch this space" (TWITTER.com, 11/20).
