David Yu


David Yu is the former chief executive officer of Internet betting exchange Betfair and a tech investor.

Education and early career

Yu studied computer science at UC Berkeley and Stanford. He moved to London from California in 2000 at the behest of his employer Alta Vista.

Betfair

He became chief technology officer of Betfair in 2001. He was promoted to the position of CEO in January 2006 during a turbulent time for the company that saw the shakeup of the positions of CEO and Chairman with Sir Robert Horton being forced out as Chairman. As an IT guy, Yu's promotion to the helm was unusual. He took the company public on the London Stock Exchange in October 2010. David Yu stood down as CEO and from the Board on 31 December 2011 after a 60% drop in share value in the year after listing and the subsequent appointment of Breon Corcoran as his replacement.

Tech investor

He is an early stage tech investor. He was among a group of individual investors and firms that invested seed money in TransferWise, a payment transfer company.