So, who really owns SportPesa?
9 people have individual shares in the betting company. 5 Kenyans, 3 Bulgarians and 1 American.
The top shareholders are American Gene Grand, Bulgarian Guerassim Nikolov and Kenyan Asenath Wacera. Each of them hold 21%.
Guerassim Nikolov was the brains behind First Lotto Ltd which ran the Toto 6/49competition. He served as SportPesa’s first CEO.

Guerassim Nikolov
This is also not Asenath’s first attempt at betting. She was the brains behind Shinda Smart 6969 – 90 Millionaires in 90 Days.
Businessman Paul Wanderi Ndung’u owns 17%, while current SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri – son of former Tigania MP Mathew Adams Karauri and ex-Kenya Airways pilot owns 6%.
Paul Wanderi is a big investor in the NSE. He is among the top 10 investors in several listed companies among them Kenya Airways, Housing Finance and Olympia. He is also the top Uchumi individual shareholder.
Mr. Wanderi also owns a series of Forex bureaus, phone dealerships (Mobicom), construction equipment and investment firms.

Paul Wanderi (Left)
Two other Bulgarians own less than 5% each.
Here’s the full list.
In 2014, PriceWaterHouseCoopers estimated the total revenue from gambling to be Sh1.98 billion. Fast forward two years later, SportPesa alone has annual revenues exceeding Sh30 billion.
With many new players in the industry like
Betika, MCheza and others, the total annual gambling revenue in Kenya is expected to reach Sh50 billion soon.