Yggdrasil names Krantz as new chief executive

Krantz will take over from Fredrik Elmqvist, who served as chief executive of Yggdrasil since founding the business in 2013. Krantz said that Elmqvist will now take “a more active board assignment”.

Krantz moves into the new role having served as chief of global market operations for the developer since September 2020, prior to which he was division head for publishing.

Prior to joining Yggdrasil in January 2020, Krantz spent over 10 years with NetEnt, serving in a number of senior positions including chief operating officer, managing director for NetEnt Americas and managing director and chief of global market operations.

During his time with NetEnt, Krantz also spent eight months as acting president and chief executive between August 2011 and March 2012.

Before moving into the gambling industry, Krantz had two separate spells with Ericsson, first as global account manager then later as business manager for Southeast Europe and vice-president of sales and business development for market unit in Central Europe.

In between these periods, Krantz spent two and a half years as global account director for Eltel Networks. 

“It’s with great humbleness I am taking over as CEO after Fredrik,” Krantz said. “I have enormous respect for the history, the company legacy and its awesome culture. It’s all about the people and building strong and winning teams and it’s a great pleasure for me to have such talented and motivated people around me every single day.

“We have a clear strategy, and together with the rest of the management team I look forward to delivering on our global growth ambitions and to further strengthen our position as the leading igaming publisher and premium global igaming solutions provider.”

Elmqvist added: “Björn is well known to the industry as his delivery track record is amazing and he has been a successful executive leader in rapid global growth environments for a very long time. 

“In the past two years, Björn has been heavily involved in shaping and building Yggdrasil’s global market operations, as well as being a key contributor to the company’s growth strategy and execution planning.

“The time is now ripe to execute on this transition and it’s a great day for the board, myself and the entire company to see Björn take over at the helm. I am confident that he will do great in propelling the business forward and take it to the next level.”