Polymarket reportedly dismisses marketing chief after promotional investigation

Polymarket reportedly dismissed its Chief Marketing Officer, Matthew Modabber, following an internal investigation into the prediction market platform's promotional practices, according to a report citing sources close to the company. Polymarket has not officially confirmed the departure, and the terms for ending his employment were reportedly still being settled.

Modabber had held the marketing role since January 2024 and was among the company's first employees, joining when Polymarket had 11 people. He had a long friendship with chief executive Shayne Coplan and contributed to the platform's promotional strategy, the report said.

According to the report, the internal investigation was opened after a series of episodes that raised concerns among investors. These included a promotional campaign built on videos in which users appeared to make particularly large winnings through operations carried out on Polymarket.

A Wall Street Journal investigation published in June reported that some content creators had been involved in making videos with simulated operations presented to the public as actual transactions. The videos showed winnings of about $1.9m, using interfaces that reproduced the look of the original platform. According to the sources cited, the marketing group led by Modabber also created a fictitious web page to support the distribution of the promotional content.

A Politico investigation published on 5 June documented transfers of more than $2.5m made through a personal PayPal account linked to Modabber, to more than 800 recipients between January 2025 and February 2026. At least $350,000 of the payments went to social media content creators, according to the analysis. Politico identified at least 20 influencers who, after receiving payments, published more than 490 posts about Polymarket on X in total without clearly disclosing the commercial relationships.

US advertising rules, applied by the Federal Trade Commission, require influencers to make economic ties to the brands they promote recognisable. Asked at the time, Polymarket described its collaboration with content creators as normal business practice, without giving further details on how the payments were communicated.

The company's promotional practices have also drawn the attention of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the US authority that oversees derivatives markets. The investigation into the marketing activities is still ongoing and no wrongdoing has been established.

The matter comes during a period of change at Polymarket, which is strengthening its organisational structure and internal controls ahead of a possible stock market listing. According to the report, the board considered that Modabber's continued presence hindered that path.

Governance tensions had also emerged from a Bloomberg investigation dated 20 October, according to which Founders Fund, during preliminary checks for an investment in 2025, identified personal expenses by chief executive Coplan paid with company resources, including private jet travel and housing costs. Coplan later reimbursed the sums, allowing the investment to be completed.

Despite the controversies, Polymarket continues to attract investor interest and to develop commercial agreements with sports organisations, including LaLiga. The expansion of prediction market platforms, which allow trading in contracts linked to the outcome of future events, is fuelling an increasingly intense debate in the United States over their legal classification, how they are promoted and user protection.