Polymarket has appointed veteran corporate finance executive Warren Jenson as its first chief financial officer, as the prediction-market operator prepares for a major expansion in the US and globally.
Jenson has previously served as finance chief at Amazon, Electronic Arts, Delta Air Lines and NBC, as well as president and CFO of Nielsen. He will report to Polymarket founder and chief executive Shayne Coplan.
The appointment comes as Polymarket seeks to raise about $1bn at a valuation of approximately $21bn, according to reports. The round is being led by 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Donald Trump Jr is a partner, and would represent a rise of about 40 per cent from the company’s previous $15bn valuation.
Jenson will oversee Polymarket’s finance organisation, capital strategy and long-term planning. The company said he would also build the financial infrastructure needed to support its next stage of growth.
“Warren has led finance at some of the most consequential companies in the world, and his experience will be critical to everything we build from here,” Coplan said.
Jenson said he was joining the company to help establish its capital strategy and operating discipline while it scaled its business.
“I’m joining Shayne and the leadership team to put the capital strategy and operating discipline in place to move quickly at scale and continue to push the frontier of this industry,” he said.
Polymarket expands regulated US operation
The six-year-old company operates a platform where users trade contracts based on the likelihood of real-world events, including political, economic and sporting outcomes. Its US exchange operates under the regulation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The CFTC lists QCX, which trades as Polymarket US, as a designated contract market. Regulatory filings show the US operation has been developing new products and market-making programmes as it seeks to deepen trading activity.
Polymarket’s expansion has been supported by significant investment. Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, completed a further $600m direct investment in March, following an initial $1bn investment in October 2025.
Jenson’s most recent CFO role was at Nielsen, where he also led finance, strategy, technology, corporate development and the company’s analytics business. He was previously president of LiveRamp, overseeing finance and international operations.
His move to Polymarket marks a decision to bring in an executive from established global companies rather than from the cryptocurrency or fintech sectors. Shawn Cole, president and co-founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search, said Jenson’s Nielsen experience was relevant because both businesses rely on collecting, interpreting and commercialising information at scale.
“Both are data-driven businesses built around measuring, interpreting, and monetizing information at scale, with significant technology, regulatory, and institutional-market complexity,” Cole said.
Cole said Jenson could bring credibility with public-market investors and experience of operating in heavily regulated environments. But he cautioned that Polymarket faced a more uncertain risk landscape than Jenson’s previous employers, as prediction markets remain subject to evolving rules and political scrutiny.
Polymarket is also expanding its wider digital-asset infrastructure. In March, it announced plans to acquire Brahma, a start-up focused on crypto and decentralised-finance tools for companies and individuals managing digital assets.
The company’s appointment of a first CFO comes at a moment when prediction markets are attracting increasing investor and public attention, while facing questions over regulation, consumer protection and the sustainability of their rapid growth.
