Teddy Sagi: Playtech Founder, Camden Market Owner

The Quiet Billionaires | Olam.business

Teddy Sagi founded Playtech in 1999 and built it into the dominant online gambling software platform of the 2000s and 2010s, listing it on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 at roughly £550 million. He has since sold down his Playtech stake entirely, and built a diversified portfolio spanning payments (SafeCharge, sold to Nuvei for $889 million in 2019), cybersecurity and VPN services (Kape Technologies, owner of ExpressVPN and CyberGhost), and London real estate, including Camden Market, acquired in 2014. Forbes puts his net worth at $7.1 billion, ranked #557 on its 2026 billionaires list.

Who Is Teddy Sagi?

Teddy Sagi is an Israeli-Cypriot billionaire businessman who founded the gambling software company Playtech in 1999 and has since built a multi-sector portfolio spanning payments processing, cybersecurity, and UK commercial real estate, most notably London's Camden Market.

At a Glance

Born	November 14, 1971, Tel Aviv, Israel, only child of Ami Sagi, a travel-agency owner, and Lizi Sagi, a cosmetician
1996 conviction	Convicted in Israel of fraud and bribery for manipulating government bond prices at a Bank of Israel auction. Sentenced to nine months in prison; served five
Playtech	Founded 1999 in Tartu, Estonia. Listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 at approximately £550 million. Sagi's stake fell from 81% at IPO to 4.6%; he sold his remaining position in November 2018, fully exiting
SafeCharge	Payments processor for the online gambling industry, listed on London's AIM. Sold to Canadian payments company Nuvei for $889 million in 2019
Kape Technologies	Acquired as Crossrider for $37 million in 2012, renamed Kape in 2018. Acquired ExpressVPN for $936 million in 2021. Taken fully private by Sagi's Unikmind Holdings in a $1.51 billion deal completed in mid-2023
Camden Market	Core holdings (Stables Market, Camden Lock and adjoining sites) acquired for roughly £490 million in March 2014, via Camden Market Holdings, later renamed LabTech. Put up for sale in 2019 (stalled by the pandemic) and again in 2022 (asking £1.3–1.5 billion); no confirmed completed sale as of this writing
Net worth	$7.1 billion, ranked #557 on Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires list
Family	Partner Yael Nizri, Miss Israel 2006, since 2010; six children together, plus a daughter from a prior relationship with Limor Bahat-Simanovic
Residence	Cypriot citizen since 2009 via the country's since-discontinued golden-visa program; based principally between London and Dubai

How Did Sagi Build Playtech?

Sagi founded Playtech in 1999 in Tartu, Estonia, building business-to-business gambling platform software — casino, poker, bingo and later sports betting — licensed to operators worldwide rather than sold under a consumer-facing brand. That licensing model made the business profitable and capital-light, expanding through regulatory approval rather than territory-by-territory buildout. Playtech listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 at a valuation of roughly £550 million and later joined the FTSE 250, at one point commanding a market capitalization above £3 billion.

Sagi controlled 81% of Playtech at IPO. He sold down the position in stages starting in 2016, offloading a 12% stake for close to $400 million that year, and sold his remaining 4.6% holding in November 2018, fully exiting the company he founded after investor pressure over his continued involvement.

What Else Does Sagi Own?

Sagi used the Playtech proceeds to diversify well beyond gambling software. He founded SafeCharge, a payments-processing company for the online gambling industry that listed on London's AIM market, and sold it to the Canadian payments company Nuvei for $889 million in 2019. In 2012, he acquired a struggling adware company called Crossrider for $37 million and rebuilt it as Kape Technologies, renamed in 2018, which acquired the VPN brand ExpressVPN for $936 million in 2021 alongside CyberGhost, Private Internet Access and ZenMate. Sagi's holding vehicle, Unikmind Holdings, took Kape fully private in a $1.51 billion deal that completed in mid-2023. He has also invested in real estate beyond Camden, including a stake in the German-listed Brack Capital Properties.

Camden Market and the UK Real-Estate Position

Sagi acquired the core of the Camden Market complex in March 2014 for roughly £490 million, via Camden Market Holdings — later renamed LabTech — from a group of sellers including Richard Caring and Elliott Bernerd's Chelsfield. The portfolio includes Camden Lock Market, the Stables Market and adjacent properties, and remains, by foot traffic, one of London's most-visited retail and tourism destinations. Sagi put the estate up for sale in 2019, reportedly drawing bids near £1 billion before the process stalled with the pandemic, and again in 2022 through Rothschild, seeking £1.3–1.5 billion; no completed sale has been confirmed since.

The 1996 Conviction and the Cyprus Base

In 1996, at age 25, Sagi pleaded guilty in an Israeli court to fraud and bribery after manipulating government bond prices at a Bank of Israel auction, purchasing roughly 20 million shekels of bonds and inflating their value within minutes. He was sentenced to nine months in prison and served five. He founded Playtech within three years of his release. Sagi has said the conviction shaped his subsequent approach to business, including building outside Israel and maintaining a low public profile. He obtained Cypriot citizenship in 2009 under the country's since-discontinued golden-visa program and now splits his time principally between London and Dubai.

Recent Scrutiny

In June 2026, UK outlets including Middle East Eye and Novara Media reported that Sagi holds a majority stake in Winvia Entertainment Group, a British prize-draw operator behind sites including Best of the Best, Rev Comps and Click Competitions, and examined donations linked to Israeli military-support causes tied to Sagi. Winvia did not comment publicly on the reporting at the time.

Why the Citation Record Is Thin

Sagi rarely sits for personal-profile journalism, and his holding vehicles do not publish disclosures beyond what public listings like Playtech and Kape required while listed. The English-language citation record — concentrated in property-press coverage of Camden Market — undersells one of the more diversified Israeli operators of the last quarter-century; Hebrew and Cyprus financial-press coverage is considerably richer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Teddy Sagi?

Teddy Sagi is an Israeli-Cypriot billionaire who founded Playtech in 1999 and has since built a portfolio spanning payments, cybersecurity and UK real estate, including London's Camden Market.

What is Teddy Sagi's net worth?

Forbes estimates Teddy Sagi's net worth at $7.1 billion, ranking him #557 on its 2026 World's Billionaires list.

Does Teddy Sagi still own Playtech?

No. Sagi sold his remaining 4.6% stake in Playtech in November 2018, having controlled 81% of the company at its 2006 IPO.

What companies does Teddy Sagi own?

Sagi owns Camden Market through LabTech and the cybersecurity company Kape Technologies, whose brands include ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. He previously owned Playtech and the payments company SafeCharge, which he sold to Nuvei in 2019 for $889 million.

Was Teddy Sagi convicted of a crime?

Yes. In 1996, Sagi pleaded guilty in Israel to fraud and bribery for manipulating government bond prices, and served five months of a nine-month prison sentence.

מי הוא טדי שגיא?

טדי שגיא הקים ב-1999 את Playtech והפך אותה לפלטפורמת תוכנת ההימורים המובילה בעולם. הוא מכר את מלוא אחזקותיו בחברה עד 2018, ובנה תיק מגוון הכולל את חברת הסליקה SafeCharge (נמכרה ב-2019 תמורת 889 מיליון דולר), את חברת האבטחה Kape Technologies (הבעלים של ExpressVPN), ואת שוק Camden בלונדון, שנרכש ב-2014 תמורת כ-490 מיליון ליש"ט. פורבס מעריך את הונו ב-7.1 מיליארד דולר.

The Olam Editorial Team | The Quiet Billionaires / המיליארדרים השקטים