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CONSTANTINOS ANTONOPOULOS
CEO
INTRALOT
GREECE
Constantinos (Costas) Antonopoulos has been instrumental in raising significant amounts of revenues for good causes around the world while making INTRALOT the second largest Lottery vendor in the world. Under Costas' guidance INTRALOT has achieved the highest growth rate in the industry. His hard work, his vision and dedication to the customers and the communities that they serve has led to the establishment of a global presence in over 40 countries with over 3,600 employees. His philosophy has always been to provide the best technology through significant research and development, to provide the highest levels of customer service through strong partnerships with his customers, to provide the best working conditions through cooperation and training and to provide a beneficial presence in all of the communities that he serves through support, social responsibility and good corporate citizenship.
INTRALOT is fourth among the largest companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange (excluding banks and State owned companies). INTRALOT’s strong international outlook is proven by its financial position. Its gross revenue from international activities has increased approximately 30 times since 2002. The estimate for gross earnings in 2007 is $ 1.25 billion and its current market capitalization is in excess of $ 2.5 billion as a direct result of Costas’ management abilities.
Costas began his successful career in the gaming industry with the establishment of the first online Lottery in Russia in the early '90s. When INTRALOT was founded in 1992 it had 10 employees. Costas was one of the company’s co-founders and assumed the position of General Manager. He established a client-oriented philosophy and created autonomous business units by creating strong teams and minimizing hierarchies. In addition to his responsibilities at INTRALOT, Costas is active in numerous Greek and international business activities.
Those who watch INTRALOT’s course acknowledge that its history has been written by Costas' hand and has been marked by projects of international prestige, innovative character and acclaimed reliability. Under Costas’ direction the instant ticket operation in Greece became the 4th most profitable international instant lottery per capita. South America was the next field for expansion. INTRALOT won the 1999 bid to supply technology and equipment to operate the Chilean State Lottery. The company further expanded throughout South America, winning projects in Argentina, Peru and Colombia and expanding into Argentina. INTRALOT is also the uncontested leader of the Central and Eastern European markets, the huge Asian market and has a strong presence in Oceania. INTRALOT has won over 50% of the bids that it has participated in during the last 4 years and 6 out of 6 of the recent largest awards internationally: Taiwan, South Africa, South Korea, Russia, Italy and Greece.
In 2002, Costas entered the North American market and, through his insight, direction and strategic planning became the first non-US company in the online gaming sector to enter the prestigious North American market. In less than 4 years, INTRALOT has been awarded 4 U.S. lottery contracts: Nebraska, Idaho, Montana and recently New Mexico.
Costas is a pioneer in the gaming sector. For example, in 2001 he was the first to foresee the convergence of the entertainment and gaming sectors, calling this match 'Entergaming'. To support his prediction and prepare for the future industry direction, INTRALOT has invested considerable resources in R&D so that its products and services are in place as the industry develops and the needs of its customers grow.
Another significant example of Costas' revolutionary thinking was the creation of new alternative channels for gaming. INTRALOT, under Costas’ direction, created the innovative Β-ΟΝ platform, which won the 'Product of the Year 2006' award from the Public Gaming Research Institute. PGRI also honored INTRALOT with the 'SMART-IDEA 2007' award for its microLOT terminal at the PGRI’s SMART-TECH Conference 2007 in Las Vegas. The award was for 'Unique contributions to the Lottery Industry' INTRALOT's technological prominence was also recently recognized when its General Technical Division was awarded the 'Committed to Excellence in Europe' distinction.
One of Costas' most important achievements is his contribution to the development of Sports Betting on an international level. He led Sports Betting to become one of the most successful gaming products offered through nationwide online retail networks. INTRALOT is now the largest sports betting bookmaker in the world. In only 6 years INTRALOT’s Sports Betting annual sales in 6 countries have grown to $6.3 billion.
Costas encourages the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility throughout all of the INTRALOT Group. INTRALOT recently received a Recognition Award for supporting the Fulbright Foundation's Scholarship Program. This program offers educational and cultural exchange opportunities to Greek and American students, scholars, researchers, and artists. A few of the many examples of INTRALOT’s dedication to social responsibility are:
- ActionAid Hellas, an international organization that fights poverty in 42 countries.
- Make-A-Wish Foundation.
- The Artemis Society, which funds research on histiocytosis.
- The Muscular Dystrophy Association.
- Support to 99 orphanages and institutions for the homeless.
- Active aid to financially disadvantaged social groups, such as earthquake victims, needy and orphan children,
and the elderly.
- Major contributor for the new Hellenic Centre of Neurosurgical Research.
- Social benefits in Turkey in direct coordination with other foundations.
- Public welfare projects in South America.
- Support of the closed-caption system to Peru’s national TV network.
- The PRODEMU Foundation, whose mission is to promote the role of women in society in Chile.
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters and various Centers for the Performing and Media Arts.
- Montana Council on Problem Gambling and Hohenheim University Research Center on Gambling in
Stuttgard, Germany
Costas has received many honors for his continuing efforts towards excellence and international leadership. His many awards include the 'Businessman of the Year 2004', the 'Best Manager for Innovation 2005', 'Best Global Oriented Manager 2005' and 'Best Manager FTSE/ASE 20' for 2006.
Costas has a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Systems Reliability.
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