Luxury travel and property empires: where is the money going?

For more than seven years, many shareholders of Ainsworth Game Technology have waited patiently for the restoration of dividends and a renewed focus on long-term value at AGT.

At the same time, executives and officers of AGT have been flying first-class and living multi-millionaire lifestyles that shareholders may reasonably question in the circumstances.

Recent reporting in The Australian Financial Review, combined with publicly available property information, reveals the following about those who have been representing shareholders’ interests.

Mark Ludski
Company secretary

Value of NSW property portfolio: ~$10M
AGT-related perks include: $5million in cash (January 2018); luxury company cars; tax-free travel allowances

Within weeks of receiving the alleged cash payment from Len Ainsworth in 2018, company secretary Mr Ludski bought a $4.9million waterfront property in Sydney’s south without recording a mortgage.

The architecturally designed, “resort style”, deep waterfront property boasts five bedrooms, an outdoor shower, and unobstructed views over the bay. This property is now conservatively valued at ~$7million.

In 2025, Mr Ludski added another mortgage-free acquisition to his property portfolio. This time, it was a five-acre “rural retreat”, featuring a tennis court, pool and manicured lawns only 30 minutes from the coast.

Danny Gladstone
Chairman

Value of NSW property portfolio: ~$10M
AGT perks include: $10million in cash (January 2018); guaranteed first-class travel; international golfing excursions; company cars; travel allowances

Mr Gladstone purchased a property in 2018 – within days of Mr Ludski’s purchase – for about $2.4million.

However, he hasn’t spent that much time at home in recent years. Between “fact-finding” trips to Latin America, “strategy” and golfing excursions to Hawaii, and attendance at a trade show last month in Barcelona – where he was overheard trying to push shareholders to sell to Novomatic – Mr Gladstone makes full use of his contractual entitlement to first-class travel.  

While shareholders have yet to see the benefits from Mr Gladstone’s jet-setting lifestyle, his really noteworthy achievement (other than amassing a Sydney beachside suburb property portfolio), is that he has managed to generate such personal wealth and perks while overseeing a reduction of nearly two thirds in the value of AGT’s share price, first as CEO, then as chairman.

Harald Neumann
Ex-CEO

Value of property portfolio: Unknown, and spread across several countries
AGT perks included: €1million in cash (January 2018) from Novomatic’s owner; ~$500,000/year of travel allowances; company cars; residential accommodation; €2million in other gifts (including €1million to a close family member) in 2019 and 2020

There was clearly a wave of generosity in the air in January 2018. On the topic, Mr Neumann was questioned in 2020 by an Austrian parliamentary inquiry about the millions in “gifts” he received in the previous two years from Novomatic’s founder, Johann Graf. This included an alleged €2million received personally and €1million that allegedly went to a close family member, all while Mr Neumann was on the AGT board as a non-executive director.

Mr Neumann refused to explain the payments, except to tell the parliamentarians that the payments from the founder of Novomatic were “personal”.

Within months of the first payment, Mr Neumann began construction of the princely “Villa Halu” on the party island of Mykonos in Greece. Villa Halu, which features two pools, 8 bedrooms, ocean views and a helipad that Mr Neumann added later, can be divided into two separate villas which are available for rent when not being used for the owner’s leisure pursuits.

The smaller villa was advertised online for $14,000 a week in the European summer of 2023.

Why Transparency Matters Now

The continuing roles held by Mr Gladstone and Mr Ludski in particular make the questions about their apparent wealth – especially that acquired since 2018 – especially relevant.

“Transparency around board awareness, disclosure and conflict management is fundamental to maintaining confidence in independent decision-making,” said minority shareholder Kjerulf Ainsworth.

“Good governance is not optional in a listed company. It is the foundation upon which shareholder trust is built.

“I fear that the company has lacked leadership, which has allowed apparent corruption and cronyism to flourish over the past seven years. The rebuilding can’t occur until there is good leadership again within the company and the self-enrichment stops and the focus returns to the interests of the shareholders.”