David Power, Co-founder of Paddy Power, Passes Away at 77

David Power, Co-Founder of Paddy Power, passed away at the age of 77 on Monday, July 8.

David Power’s family has been associated with betting since 1895. He ran the family betting shop business for several years before deciding to expand. In 1988 he partnered with Stewart Kenny and Vincent O’Reilly, who had sold Kenny O’Reilly Bookmakers to Coral a few years prior.

Kenny and O’Reilly had gone on to open 10 shops of their own, with these merging with the Power family’s 30 shops. From here, the Paddy Power brand was established, with all shops rebranded to reflect the change.

The business continued to grow throughout the 1990s, with David Power serving as CEO from 1988 to 2002. During this period, the company expanded online and added casinos to its product offering.

Although he stepped down as CEO in the 2000s, he remained on the board until 2013. In 2000, the company was listed on both the Irish and London Stock Exchanges; it became the first bookmaker on the Apple app store in 2010; and merged with Betfair in 2016.

A couple of years later, the business also acquired FanDuel. A year later, the group dropped its Paddy Power Betfair operating name to rebrand as Flutter Entertainment. Months later, it agreed on a mega-merger with The Stars Group.

“David was immensely proud that his plucky Irish business, with its 40 shops initially, paved the way for Flutter to become the global leader in online sports betting and iGaming it is today,” Flutter said.

“Everyone at Flutter, including Paddy Power colleagues past and present, offer the Power family our condolences. May David rest in peace.”