FanDuel CEO Amy Howe out after five years at the sportsbook

FanDuel CEO Amy Howe has been ousted from that post after five years at the company, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Christian Genetski, FanDuel president, will step in to lead the company, according to the people, who asked not to be named in order to speak about internal matters.

Howe, head of the nation’s leading sportsbook, has shepherded the sports betting company since 2021. She has overseen FanDuel during a time of dramatic expansion in sports gambling and other online gambling in multiple states.

Shares of FanDuel parent company Flutter fell sharply in afternoon trading Wednesday, closing the day down 4%. The stock has been under pressure, down almost 60% over the last year as investors have sold off gaming stocks more broadly amid the sudden specter of competition from prediction markets and worries about consumer spending due to higher gas prices and inflation worries. Shares of DraftKings are down 30% over the same time period.

In February, Flutter issued 2026 guidance that missed Wall Street expectations. 

Flutter CEO Peter Jackson told CNBC following the earnings report that he wants to invest $300 million in FanDuel Predicts, the company’s in-house predictions platform, “and that takes our numbers down for 2026.”

“We saw some slightly softer performance in Q4, and we’re reflecting that in the guidance we’re putting in place for this year,” he said.

Jackson said that the company should have spent more on marketing and promotions in a competitive environment but that there was a lack of storylines around NFL players that would drive gambler engagement.

Howe is one of few women leaders in the industry and the only female CEO of a major gambling company.

In a goodbye note to employees, obtained by CNBC, Howe urged her women colleagues to “keep supporting each other and raising the bar.” She also advised employees to “use your voice. There is a reason you are all here,” she said.

A veteran of Live Nation and McKinsey, Howe brought deep experience guiding companies in transition and especially those under public scrutiny.

Howe has taken a leadership role in the industry on responsible gaming, refusing to advertise in college stadiums or do name, image and likeness, or NIL, deals with college athletes.

She was also named a 2026 CNBC Changemaker. Howe told an audience of attendees at a CNBC Changemakers event in April that she “cares deeply” about FanDuel.  

“We’ve all worked with leaders who are low integrity, who look out for themselves,” Howe said at the time. “The ability to be the face to a company and a sector, but lead in a way that is authentic to me is, at 54 [years old], a very powerful thing to be able to do.”