Four founding members of PartyGaming, owner of one of the biggest online gambling websites, have watched the value of their holdings decreased by £1.8bn since Monday. The company's biggest shareholder, Anurag Dikshit, with 29% lost £773m.
PartyGaming's Shares went into freefall following last weekend's surprise decision by the US Senate that effectively banned online gambling in the country.
Dikshit, a founding director of the company, has seen the market value of his 29% stake fall by £773m in the last three days of trading. His holding, which was worth £1.24bn last Friday with closing share price of 107p, is now worth £467 million.
Dikshit recently stepped down from his role in the board of the Gibraltar-based company to take on a different role as head of research and special projects.
Two other founders, Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon, who each have 14.9% of the gaming group's shares, have seen the value of their stakes fall by £397 million since Monday to £239.4 million.
Vikrant Bhargava, the fourth founding member, has also seen his 7% stake drop in value by £230 million to £138.8 million.
PartyGaming dismissed a report yesterday, which claimed it must negotiate a new loan facility with its banks within 30 days of the bill gaining approval.
The Financial Times said the move was prompted by a clause in a $500 million loan agreement allowing its lenders to call in the loan in the event of a change in US law that affects PartyGaming's position in the country.
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