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Ed Craven
Australian businessman (born 1996) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Edward Craven (born 1995) is an Australian billionaire entrepreneur[1] known as the co-founder of the online casino Stake.com and the live-streaming platform Kick.[2][3][4] Stake.com has grown into a global gambling platform, with sponsorships in sports and endorsements from public figures such as musician Drake. Craven also streams on Kick, which was launched as an alternative to Twitch, focusing on creator-friendly revenue sharing.[5][6]
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Early life
Craven was born in 1995. His father, Jamie Craven, was banned from working in the financial services industry and jailed for six months in the 1980s over the collapse of investment company Spedley Securities.[7][8] Little is publicly known about Craven's upbringing or education, although he did attend to Bishop Druitt College where he developed an early interest in technology, online gaming, and cryptocurrencies.[9][10] During his teenage years, he became active in online communities centered around virtual games and gambling, particularly within the game RuneScape.[11]
Craven plays online games and livestreams his gameplay on Kick. He has streamed alongside celebrities including Drake.[12]
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Career
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After experimenting together with Bijan Tehrani with virtual gambling in RuneScape, Craven and Tehrani created Primedice, a cryptocurrency-based online dice game in 2013.[13] In 2016, they launched Easygo, a company specializing in online casino games.[14]
Stake.com
In 2017 the Stake.com brand debuted, operating through a license in Curaçao. The company maintains offices in Serbia, Australia, and Cyprus. It became one of the world's largest gambling companies.[15] Stake.com expanded to the UK in December 2021 through a partnership with TGP Europe. It is the main shirt sponsor for Everton FC and Watford FC, and also backs the Sauber Formula One team.[16][17] In 2022, Canadian musician Drake was paid US$100 million annually to endorse Stake on social media.[18][19]
In September 2023, the FBI confirmed that the Lazarus Group, a North Korean cybercrime organization, was responsible for stealing approximately US$41 million in cryptocurrency from Stake.com. This theft is part of a broader pattern of cyberattacks attributed to the Lazarus Group, which has been linked to over US$300 million in cryptocurrency thefts in 2023.[20][21]
In May 2024, Craven and his business partner, Bijan Tehrani, increased their stake in ASX-listed bookmaker PointsBet to over 5% through their company, Easygo Gaming.[22][23] In early 2024, Stake, co-founded by Craven, partnered with Canberra-based Racing and Sports Technology to begin offering horse racing bets.[24] In February 2024, Stake became a sponsor of Formula 1 by rebranding the Sauber team as the "Stake F1 Team."[25][26] In August 2024, Stake.com expanded into the Italian market by acquiring Baldo Line SRL, the operator of Idealbet.it, thereby enhancing its European presence.[27] In March 2025, Craven announced a strategic shift for Stake, transitioning from a cryptocurrency-exclusive platform to accepting 70% of transactions in traditional fiat currency.[28]
In June 2024, Craven's company Easygo Solutions began offering sign-on bonuses of up to A$100,000 to attract senior engineering talent. The initiative aims to recruit professionals from major tech firms such as Atlassian, Canva, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Xero, and support the company's continued growth across its platforms, including Stake.com and Kick.[29][30][31]
Kick
Launched in 2022 by Craven and his business partner, Tehrani, Kick is intended to compete with Amazon's Twitch as an online live-streaming platform.[32] The platform provides an alternative to the popular streaming service Twitch, as it provides a 95-5% split of revenues to content creators.[33] Kick's sponsorships include the Alfa Romeo F1 Team and Everton Football Club.[4] In May 2024, Craven addressed concerns from streamers about the platform's moderation, noting that Kick is continuously working to balance content regulation and community feedback.[34][35]
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Personal life
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Craven resides in Melbourne and in 2022 he purchased a 7,187-square-metre (77,360 sq ft) derelict mansion for A$80,000,088—the most expensive house in Toorak.[3][36] Craven plans to construct a new luxury residence valued at approximately $150 million. Architect Paul Conrad noted that the design would be more akin to architectural styles from the USA and UK than typical local.[37][38]
Net worth
In October 2024, Craven debuted on the Financial Review's Young Rich List, ranking 68th with a net worth of A$2.01 billion.[39] At the same time, Forbes Australia highlighted Craven and Tehrani's US$5.6 billion fortune, built through their ventures in online gaming with Stake.com and the live-streaming platform Kick.[40]
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References
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