FanDuel CEO Amy Howe has been ousted from that post after five years at the company, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Christian Genetski, FanDuel president, will step in to lead the company, according to the people, who asked not to be named in order to speak about internal matters.

Howe, head of the nation’s leading sportsbook, has shepherded the sports betting company since 2021. She has overseen FanDuel during a time of dramatic expansion in sports gambling and other online gambling in multiple states.

Shares of FanDuel parent company Flutter fell sharply in afternoon trading Wednesday, closing the day down 4%. The stock has been under pressure, down almost 60% over the last year as investors have sold off gaming stocks more broadly amid the sudden specter of competition from prediction markets and worries about consumer spending due to higher gas prices and inflation worries. Shares of DraftKings are down 30% over the same time period.

In February, Flutter issued 2026 guidance that missed Wall Street expectations. 

Flutter CEO Peter Jackson told CNBC following the earnings report that he wants to invest $300 million in FanDuel Predicts, the company’s in-house predictions platform, “and that takes our numbers down for 2026.”

“We saw some slightly softer performance in Q4, and we’re reflecting that in the guidance we’re putting in place for this year,” he said.

Jackson said that the company should have spent more on marketing and promotions in a competitive environment but that there was a lack of storylines around NFL players that would drive gambler engagement.

Howe is one of few women leaders in the industry and the only female CEO of a major gambling company.

In a goodbye note to employees, obtained by CNBC, Howe urged her women colleagues to “keep supporting each other and raising the bar.” She also advised employees to “use your voice. There is a reason you are all here,” she said.

A veteran of Live Nation and McKinsey, Howe brought deep experience guiding companies in transition and especially those under public scrutiny.

Howe has taken a leadership role in the industry on responsible gaming, refusing to advertise in college stadiums or do name, image and likeness, or NIL, deals with college athletes.

She was also named a 2026 CNBC Changemaker. Howe told an audience of attendees at a CNBC Changemakers event in April that she “cares deeply” about FanDuel.  

“We’ve all worked with leaders who are low integrity, who look out for themselves,” Howe said at the time. “The ability to be the face to a company and a sector, but lead in a way that is authentic to me is, at 54 [years old], a very powerful thing to be able to do.”

Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday reported a staggering net loss for the first quarter, but it has an explanation.

The company booked a net loss of $2.9 billion, far larger than the net loss of $453 million it reported in the year-earlier quarter.

The figure included $1.3 billion of “pre-tax acquisition-related amortization of intangibles, content fair value step-up and restructuring expenses” as well as the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. Discovery owed Netflix after their pending transaction fell through in February.

Netflix walked away from its proposed deal to buy WBD’s assets after Paramount Skydance came in with a higher offer. Paramount agreed to pay the termination fee as part of its agreement to buy the entirety of WBD, but the cost lives on WBD’s books until the close of the deal.

Since the amount is refundable to Paramount under certain circumstances, such as if it were to terminate the deal with Paramount for a higher offer, the obligation would be shifted to WBD.

Paramount’s proposed acquisition received approval from WBD shareholders in April and is currently in the midst of a regulatory review process. On Monday, Paramount said in its earnings release that it has “made significant progress” toward closing the deal, which it expects to be completed in the third quarter.

WBD on Wednesday also reported first-quarter revenue that was down 1% year over year to $8.89 billion. The company’s adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization was up 5% to $2.2 billion. WBD had $33.4 billion in gross debt at the end of the quarter.

Streaming continued to be a highlight for the company.

Total streaming revenue was up 9% to about $2.89 billion as subscriber revenue increased due to the expansion of HBO Max — WBD’s flagship streaming platform — in international markets. Advertising revenue for the unit was up 20% due to an increase in customers subscribing to the ad-supported tier.

The company said in a shareholder letter it exceeded its guidance of more than 140 million global streaming customers at the end of the first quarter, and it remains on track to surpass 150 million global subscribers by the end of the year.

WBD’s portfolio of pay TV networks, which includes CNN, TBS and the Discovery Channel, continued to weigh on the company. The linear TV networks reported $4.38 billion in revenue, down 8% from the prior year. The company said linear advertising revenue was down 11%, which was primarily driven by the absence of NBA media rights from its portfolio.

Revenue for the film studio division, meanwhile, increased 35% to $3.13 billion year over year.