Polymarket Parts Ways With Its Marketing Chief Amid Internal Probe

Polymarket has fired its chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber, following an internal investigation into several incidents. The most serious allegation involves a scheme built on fake trades, and the company is reportedly finalizing a separation agreement with him.

What Led to the Dismissal

According to sources cited by the New York Post, the probe looked into a number of embarrassing episodes that made investors uneasy. One of them was reported by The Wall Street Journal in June, when Modabber’s team allegedly built a fake webpage showcasing videos of users supposedly profiting from trades that never happened. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened an investigation into that matter, and it remains ongoing. No wrongdoing has been proven so far, and Polymarket has said it is committed to accurate, fair and transparent markets.

A Friendship Complicated the Decision

Modabber has been a close friend of CEO Shayne Coplan since high school, and that relationship made the firing harder to carry out.

The board reportedly concluded that Modabber was working against the company’s effort to move past its scrappy startup image as it considers a future public listing. The board includes Coplan, Nick Tomaino, Alex Spiro and a partner from Founders Fund.