APT Events Private Limited — the company that owns and operates the Asian Poker Tour brand — has announced that Fred Leung will take over as the company's Chief Executive Officer. Leung has plenty of experience in the poker world and is moving to APT from a position where he ran marketing for PokerStars Macau.
Michael Soyza is a partner in APT Events and made the announcement earlier today.
“When the stakeholders were in the process of identifying new leadership," Soyza said. it was clear that Fred [Leung] was the best person for the role given his prior experience and success in the Far East. We’re ecstatic to have him at the helm and confident he will raise the Asian Poker Tour to new heights.”
The choice to bring in a new CEO serves the company's plans to rebrand the company under new owners.
The APT Twitter team wrote about the appointment that "the Asian Poker Tour has signed Fred Leung as Chief Executive Officer. [Leung] succeeds Jeff Mann, who previously held the CEO role, and will oversee the rebranding of the APT under new ownership."
Meet Fred Leung
Leung's love of the game (and of games in general) can be easily seen on his personal Twitter which includes enthusiastic posts not just about poker but about chess, wordle, and Joe "Stapes" Stapleton's comedy.
Leung affirmed that enthusiasm in the APT press release, saying, “I’m beyond excited at this opportunity with the APT, which has had a strong presence in the region for over a dozen years. Our objective is to retain the Asian Poker Tour’s legacy while advancing its competitive position within Asia.”
Leung also added that he felt “the alignment in vision for APT arrived quickly with the new ownership group. This was paramount to my decision to join the team. They are aggressive, ambitious, and — most importantly — passionate about the game of poker.”
The APT's next event will be held from September 6 to 18. This will be the 2022 APT Philippines event held at Newport World Resorts just outside of Manila.
Featured image source: APT