Young billionaire Laurence Escalante signs Ferrari Formula 1 sponsorship deal
In a rare move for an Australian-owned company, the fast car enthusiast will have his online social gaming brand on the most famous car racing team in the world.
Young billionaire Laurence Escalante has clinched a deal to sponsor glamour Formula One team Ferrari as part of a push to promote his highly-profitable social gaming business in North America.
The multi-year deal will see Escalante’s Perth-based Virtual Gaming Worlds have its brands placed on the famous Ferrari’s red racing cars, and on drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and crew teamwear.
The privately-held VGW, an online social gaming business that has almost all of its customers in North America, made a huge $454m net profit in the 2022 financial year.
Escalante’s business also launched a new brand this week, VGW Play, which offers a range of free “casual” games globally.
The VGW Play brand will feature in its Ferrari sponsorship.
Formula One has boomed in popularity in North America in recent years thanks to the popular Drive to Survive series broadcast on Netflix. There are three Grands Prix to be held in the US this year, as well as races in Canada and Mexico.
Escalante, 41, has estimated wealth of almost $3bn on The List – Australia’s Richest 250 – from VGW, which earns just about all its revenue in North America.
“We are excited to partner with Ferrari, one of the world’s most iconic global brands. With such a rich history, success in motorsport and a brand synonymous with winning, achievement, passion and luxury, we look forward to working together and our next chapter of growth,” Escalante said when the global deal was announced on Friday.
“F1 is a truly global sport with massive reach that has experienced amazing growth in recent years, particularly in the US, and there’s no bigger brand than Ferrari. We may operate in different industries, but share similar beliefs when it comes to the power of technology and teams for performance, and the role of passion that unites us all.”
The 2023 Formula One season starts this weekend in Bahrain ahead of the second race of the calendar in Melbourne, the Australian Grand Prix, in early April.
A noted fast car enthusiast, Escalante has amassed a collection of his own expensive sports cars and also races performance cars.
Escalante his car passion started when he would play arcade games such as NASCAR and Need for Speed for hours. The first car he owned was a Mitsubishi Lancer GLI in 2001, modifying it heavily with chrome rims, 3-inch exhaust and a stereo system.
His first job was working at Hungry Jacks for $5.65 per hour as a teenager and he later worked at The Reject Shop while undertaking actuarial studies and economics at Macquarie University in Sydney. Escalante started VGW from shared office space in Perth in 2010.
The company’s customers play social casino virtual games such as its Chumba Casino suite of online poker machine, poker and blackjack table games, and Luckyland Slot. Customers pay real money to buy virtual coins.
VGM operates under a sweepstakes model that gives users the chance to win promotional sweepstakes that can be redeemed for cash.
VGW’s profit last year was up 54 per cent from the $294.7m result in 2021, while revenue rose 55 per cent from about $2.22bn last year to a record $3.46bn.
Its latest financial result also makes VGW one of the most profitable locally-owned, private companies in Australia.
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