About Robert Antokol
On January 15, 2021, Playtika CEO and co-founder Robert Antokol appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Alley" to discuss the company's IPO, which he described as a "big milestone for an Israeli company that was established 10 years ago to go public here in the U.S." Antokol stated that Playtika is "a cash flow positive company from day one" and characterized the company as "a little bit different than the other mobile companies," citing its technology and data-driven approach. He said that Playtika treats its games as platforms, noting that Slotomania receives "fresh content every week or every two weeks" and that nine of the top 100 games in the U.S. are Playtika games.
Regarding platform risk, Antokol said that Apple and Google "were always an amazing partner of Playtika" and that running on their platforms "has never been a risk for us, it's always been an advantage." When asked about the Chinese consortium retaining voting power post-IPO, Antokol stated that Playtika is "an Israeli independent company" with management in Israel and that the company has had Israeli and U.S. investors, adding that "we have no issue with it."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Robert Antokol's recent appearances.
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Transcript (8 segments)
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Interviewer0:12
Walk us through sort of the playbook of the business model. Gaming of course has been well chewed upon by the street lately. What makes Playtika different?
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Robert Antokol0:25
Thanks for the question. So if you think, I was established ten years ago and actually we started with one game on one platform. From this day we started to look at our games a little bit different than the others. We look at our game as the platform. So we still have more than five, more than seven years, it's still growing. When you look at the top hundred games in the US, nine of these games are Playtika games. So we are a little bit different than the others. We are more stable.
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Interviewer1:10
A lot in the initial Facebook era and it's had a lot of struggles with the casual gaming. There's some other companies that have had struggles with it and along comes Playtika and you guys are getting a lot of attention and seem to be doing well. What are you doing differently model wise than some of those earlier players in the more social gaming space?
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Robert Antokol1:27
So I think there are a few big differences. First, we have unbelievable technology that's running with us from day one and we are a technology company. Second, we look at data. Everything that we do, every new product, every move, everything around games is based on data. It's not hunches, it's not saying maybe it will work, maybe not. Everything on data. And third, as I said in the beginning, we look at our games like they are here to stay. It's a little bit different. I know that we are a different animal that people used to see other mobile companies around the world. We have a different approach and we are very excited about the future and that everyone will know Playtika very soon.
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Interviewer2:28
Hey Robert, under risk factors in your IPO prospectus, you guys listed or you cited the ability of Apple and Google to remove your games from its platform. You know, as Apple did with Epic. You guys get 95% of your total revenue from in-app game purchases. So where do you stand on Apple's standard 30% commission policy?
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Robert Antokol2:51
So Apple, Google was always an amazing partner of Playtika. We were running on their platform from day one. We have a great relationship with them. We are not in any conflict with them. We are very happy with the partnership. We think that the ecosystem is working well and we are not looking to change anything.
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Interviewer3:14
You are owned by a Chinese consortium that I think will retain 80% voting power post IPO. We don't need to tell you the back and forth that's gone between the US and China regarding capital markets. Do you not feel like you're walking into any kind of buzz saw?
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Robert Antokol3:32
So thank you for this question. It's a very important point for me. So Playtika as an Israeli company that was established 10 years ago, we had an Israeli investor and then we had USA investors like Apollo and TPG and Caesars. And now we have a different kind of investor. Playtika was always independent. The management sitting in Israel is an independent company. We have different shareholders and it's okay. And we have no issue with it. But we are an Israeli company, we are independent, and we are very happy with our shareholder base.
