Death of a visionary in gambling
The founder and President of TCSJohn Huxley died at his residence in Gothenburg, Sweden, losing to a quickly evolving disease. He was 80.
The death of President of TCSJohn Huxley, Bertil Knutsson, is a great loss for the gambling industry. A great business man, he left behind a grieving family – Stella, his wide, and three children – Michael, Tristan and Charles. The funeral service took place in Gothenburg, August 3. ‘Bertil was not only a father, but also my best friend and my confidant.’ The values that he passed onto his three sons go beyond all the life issues: integrity, honesty and compassion, declared Michael Knutsson, Manager at TCSJohnHuxley. During over 50 years in his career, out of 80 of his life, Bertil Knutsson, who passed away at his residence in Gothenburg, Sweden, due to a disease that evolved fast, was both a visionary in the gambling industry and a sport fan, and successful in both.
At the beginning of this year, magnate was offered the Outstanding Contribution Award, during the fifth edition of the International Gaming Awards, as a sign of recognition of his leading contribution to the gaming industry all his life.
A true professional
In 1958, he introduced in Sweden the casinos as a type of entertainment. But gaming has changed forever upon the implementation, in 1979, of the revolutionary system Chipper Champ™. In 1980, he founded one of the first joint ventures in the former Soviet Union. Bertil Knutsson brought the online poker and betting to the market of the northern countries via a joint venture with Ladbrokes Plc.
He became a shareholder in the online gaming operator companies, such as Betsson AB and Net Entertainment AB. The famous business man has involved himself very much into other areas, namely Bingo in Africa, renewable energy industry or IT security.
Bananas for sport
Knutsson had a successful career as a boxing referee, while taking part in various championships in almost all countries in Europe. His passion for boxing has made him organize galas, along with his childhood friend, former world champion in the heavy category, Ingemar Johansson. More than that, he became the President of the Swedish Boxing Federation between 1985 and 1989.
Very much into sport, he brought the World Championship Tennis (WCT) in Sweden and organized the Harlem Globetrotters tournament in Scandinavia in the 70’s. A great fan of racing, he founded the company Knutsson Trotting AB, which raises breed stallions for horse races. One of them is Sebastian K, the horse that won the King Gustav V Trophy in 2010.
