Spin Cycle: “We’ve been on a nice little run,” says CEO Matt Wilson of Light & Wonder, which brought in $2.9 billion of revenue last year.Light & Wonder has been on a massive winning streak, with $2.9 billion in revenue last year and a stock price that’s up nearly 450% over the past five years. Here’s how it steals market share from the biggest players in the industry.
“We were trying to be world class at 50 different gaming things through the pandemic,” says the 43-year-old Wilson, who previously worked for Light & Wonder’s Australia-based competitor Aristocrat for nearly 16 years. “But we also had a really serious financial situation that needed to be dealt with.”
Jackpot: Light & Wonder has become the fastest-growing company in the industry—thanks to its roster of popular games, including Dragon Train.. Light & Wonder operates globally, manufacturing and selling its slot machines and games across nearly every gaming market around the world. But 70% of its revenue comes from North America, the largest slot machine market with 1 million machines, according to gaming data firm Eilers & Krejcik.
Light & Wonder’s recent moves also set off a flurry of merger activity across the industry. In May, PlayAGS, Incorporated, another slot machine supplier traded on the Nasdaq,to go private by being acquired by affiliates of Brightstar Capital Partners for $1.1 billion. In February, London-based International Game Technologyit would spin off its lottery business from its gaming division—a similar move Light & Wonder made in 2021—and merge with Las Vegas-based Everi.