The New York Post reported Thursday that Polymarket had dismissed chief marketing officer Matthew Modabber after an internal review, tying the move to board concerns about the company’s image before a potential IPO.
The outlet said the review began earlier this year and Polymarket was finalizing a separation agreement. Modabber had held the marketing post since January 2024, and the Post described him as a longtime friend of CEO Shayne Coplan.
An unnamed source told the Post that Coplan was angry and threatened to fire legal team members who had backed Modabber’s removal. The Post later reported that Coplan accepted Modabber should leave. It said a Polymarket spokeswoman declined to comment, while Coplan and Modabber did not respond to its requests.
The Post said board members believed Modabber’s continued presence could hinder efforts to make Polymarket appear more established ahead of a possible IPO.
The Wall Street Journal had previously documented Polymarket promotional clips portraying users as profiting from fabricated wagers. After that coverage, a Polymarket spokesperson told CBS News the company was checking active promotions against its standards.
Bloomberg Law reported in June that a source familiar with an inquiry described a CFTC investigation into Polymarket’s social-media activity. The Post later said the inquiry remained open and that wrongdoing had not been established.
In a separate action, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ordered Blockratize, Inc., which does business as Polymarket, to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty on Jan. 3, 2022. The order addressed off-exchange event-based binary options offered without the company obtaining designation as a designated contract market or registering as a swap execution facility.
