PartyGaming has found their successor to Richard Segal, the CEO that left the company back in February.

Mitch Garber will be taking over the CEO mantle - and will be earning $17 million for his troubles - in the first year alone. Garber is calling the move his 'crowning achievement' - an understatement in anybody's reality I would think.

He was previously with FireOne Group PLC, taking the company to an IPO. Before this, he had worked at Surefire - a leading e-commerce supplier to online gambling operators

Garber, who besides his sideline as a broadcaster in the '90s also wrote a freelance sports column for The Gazette, will get a salary of $1 million and 7 million shares in the first year, said John Shepherd, PartyGaming's director of communication.

At yesterday's stock price, the stock options were worth about $15.6 million U.S., according to Bloomberg News. He will receive another $6 million U.S. to cover relocation expenses and his outstanding Optimal options, Shepherd said.

In addition to his salary, Garber stands to receive a total of 20 million stock options over his second, third and fourth years as CEO if the company's stock performs better than the stock market and its peers in the gambling industry.

Garber goes on to say that hearing the numbers is 'quite humbling'.

Perhaps its the toll of upping from his cosy life in Montreal to the hardships of the Mediterranean sun in Gibraltar that requires such a hefty salary? Oh to be so humble with such riches

Article: Gambling exec hits the jackpot