Sergey Karshkov

Sergey Karshkov was born in 1980 in the Kyiv region of Ukraine and later relocated to Bryansk, Russia. He headed the department for combating cybercrime in the regional branch of Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) before moving into the gambling industry.

In 2007, together with Roman Semiokhin and Dmitry Kazorin, he co-founded 1xBet, which grew into one of the world's largest online gambling operators. Karshkov was responsible for marketing and brand promotion, and the company became licensed in Curaçao with headquarters in Cyprus.

In 2016, he moved to Cyprus. Russian authorities placed him on an international wanted list in 2020 on charges of illegal gambling and money laundering. He died in June 2023 at age 42 following a medical incident during an MRI scan in a Swiss clinic.