Ainsworth to review position of CEO Harald Neumann

Harald Neumann’s position as CEO at Ainsworth has been put in doubt after the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) seems to have been deterred from issuing him with a new gaming license.

The Ainsworth executive and former Novomatic chief had been seeking a license in the state in view of the ongoing takeover bid from Novomatic, with Ainsworth now required “to continue to pursue licensure for all executive officers of the company.”

In a brief statement released today, Ainsworth Chairman, Danny Gladstone, has confirmed that following a recomendation from the NGCB that Neumann’s application be withdrawn, the Board of Directors will be reviewing Neumann’s role.

In due course the company will share any details from the outcome of this review, but for the time being it seems that an Austrian corruption probe involving Neumann may have cast a shadow over his future at Ainsworth.

In 2019, a series of investigations into more than 100 individuals was launched by Austria’s Economic and Corruption Prosecutor’s Office – Neumann, at the time CEO of Novomatic, was initially implicated in some of these cases, though it was later reported that all but one had been discontinued without having uncovered definitive evidence of corruption.

Whether the de facto rejection of Neumann by the NGCB is due to its own evaluations of the credibility of the one remaining case is not certain, but it may be a situation where the risk was not considered to be worth the reward for the state regulator.

Good to know: This year at IGA 2025, Ainsworth celebrated its 30th anniversary as a company

Novomatic’s takeover of Ainsworth has been a protracted and controversial affair in its own right, with public disharmony rife between significant minority shareholder Kjerulf Ainsworth and Novomatic, which is seemingly intent on purchasing all remaining shares of the company and removing it from the Australian Securities Exchange.

In August, Novomatic exclusively told Gambling Insider that the “very good” bid it had made for the remainder of Novomatic stock was its final offer – Kjerulf Ainsworth, son of Founder Len, believed the bid, which valued the business at approximately AU$336.83m (US$217.82m), was an undervaluation.

Nonetheless, at last report, the bid has progressed to the point where Novomatic controlled around 60% of the company.

Rory Calland

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