David Yu

David Yu (born 6 November 1967) is an American businessman and investor. He is the former CEO of Internet betting exchange Betfair and an active tech investor.

Education and early career

Yu studied computer science at UC Berkeley and Stanford.^[1] He moved to London from California in 2000 at the behest of his employer Alta Vista.^[2]

Betfair

He became chief technology officer of Betfair in 2001. He was promoted to the position of CEO in January 2006 during a turbulent time for the company that saw the shakeup of the positions of CEO and Chairman with Sir Robert Horton being forced out as Chairman.^[3] As an IT enthusiast, Yu's promotion to the helm was unusual.^[4] He took the company public on the London Stock Exchange in October 2010.^[2] David Yu stood down as CEO and from the Board on 31 December 2011 after a 60% drop in share value in the year after listing and the subsequent appointment of Breon Corcoran as his replacement.

Tech investor

He is also an early stage tech investor. He was among a group of individual investors and firms that invested seed money in TransferWise (now Wise), a payment transfer company.^[5]

References

^ "TechRepublic - A Resource for IT Professionals". Silicon.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
^ a b Moules, Jonathan (2011-06-21). "From Silicon Valley to Silicon Britain". FT.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
^ Garrahan, Matthew (2006-01-05). "Horton forced out of Betfair after pressure from investors". FT.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
^ "TechRepublic - A Resource for IT Professionals". Silicon.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
^ Johnson, Bobbie. "Transferwise unveils Levchin, other superstar backers". Gigaoam. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2012.

External links

Interview with Silicon.com
Video of TechCrunch interview
Succession process for CEO of Betfair to begin

Business positions
Preceded by Sir Robert Horton (executive chairman)	Chief Executive of Betfair January 2006 - July 2012	Succeeded by Breon Corcoran

[1] "TechRepublic - A Resource for IT Professionals". Silicon.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

[ft-2] Moules, Jonathan (2011-06-21). "From Silicon Valley to Silicon Britain". FT.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

[3] Garrahan, Matthew (2006-01-05). "Horton forced out of Betfair after pressure from investors". FT.com. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

[4] "TechRepublic - A Resource for IT Professionals". Silicon.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2012-08-06.

[5] Johnson, Bobbie. "Transferwise unveils Levchin, other superstar backers". Gigaoam. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2012.