Germany's Pferdewetten.de has appointed Frank Hartmann as CFO and Co-CEO, with the board role beginning on 1 January 2027. He will share executive leadership with current CEO Christian Gruber. Hartmann will advise the operator from mid-November through December but will not formally take his board seat until the new year.
His remit covers finance and controlling, compliance, legal affairs and investor relations. It places financial reporting and several regulated-business functions under one executive as pferdewetten.de manages its horseracing business, sports betting offer and retail estate.
Hartmann began his career at Deutsche Bank and subsequently spent several years as a CFO. At net mobile AG, he co-led its stock market flotation and played a role in the sale to NTT Docomo. He later served as managing director and CFO of payments provider Payone from 2014 to 2024.
Payone operates as an e-money institution subject to German financial supervision. That gives Hartmann experience of reporting and compliance obligations outside gambling, a background the operator highlighted when announcing the appointment.
The release did not set out a new business strategy or financial target linked to the hire.
The Düsseldorf-based group's activities extend beyond its Pferdewetten.de racing site. It has offered sports betting through sportwetten.de since 2018, both online and in shops, and provides services to other betting operators. Its Malta-licensed subsidiary netX Betting also holds a permit under Germany's Interstate Treaty on Gambling. Its retail sports betting network has been part of a wider expansion, although management has also reassessed the performance of individual shops.
The appointment follows other changes to pferdewetten.de's leadership and financing. Gruber became CEO in January 2026, and the group completed a capital increase in September.
The two-person executive structure will give Hartmann a broader mandate than a finance-only post, while Gruber remains in place. Its next scheduled quarterly update is in November, before Hartmann's board term begins.
For H1 2026, Pferdewetten.de revenue rose 25.4% and EBITDA returned to positive territory, as reported in August.
The group offers bets on thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races in more than 40 countries
