Len Ainsworth, founder of Australian slot machine giants Aristocrat Leisure Ltd and Ainsworth Game Technology, turns 100 this week, notching another remarkable milestone in a career that has seen him change the face of the global gaming industry.
From humble beginnings, Ainsworth built what would become a global behemoth with Aristocrat dominating the slot machine market around the world and boasting a market capitalization of more than AU$24 billion (US$16 billion). Sensing an opportunity, he built his first machines for what would eventually become Aristocrat while working for his father’s dental supplies business in the 1950s. He began supplying to NSW clubs soon after, before later turning his attention to international expansion – shipping his first batch of machines to the UK in the early 1960s.
Overcoming multiple setbacks on the way to building his empire – including high-profile clashes with the Sydney underworld and later the NSW police force – a health scare in the mid-1990s saw Ainsworth step back from his day-to-day role with Aristocrat, ultimately splitting his shareholding up between his seven sons and two ex-wives, albeit with a proviso: should any of them sell their shares, Ainsworth would be entitled to 80% of the proceeds. To this day, the Ainsworth family retains around 40% of Aristocrat shares.
Despite this, Ainsworth launched a new slot machine company under his own name in 1996 – the same year Aristocrat listed on the Australian Securities Exchange – in direct competition to his original firm, later selling Ainsworth Game Technology to Austrian gaming giant Novomatic in 2016 in an a near AU$500 million (US$334 million deal).
In an interview with The Australian published this past week, Ainsworth said he has always been driven to seize opportunities when they present themselves.
“The opposition are only there to be eliminated,” he said with a laugh.
“My view of the average Australian is [that] he or she wants to get a job, get a nice car, get a home and then do f**k all else. I see opportunities every day, just waiting for somebody to take them and they’re there for anybody to take. Now if people don’t see them, or don’t take them, then they’ve missed the opportunity. You’ve got to have balls to take them.”
Ainsworth also shows little regard for those who paint him as evil, particularly given Australia’s current regulatory environment where all things gambling are being painted as the devil of the day.
“If they want to paint me that way, I don’t mind,” he told The Australian. “Besides which, they can all get stuffed.”
On his own legacy, he added, “I’d like to be thought of as a decent person who tried to help others. That just about sums it up, really. And I have given a lot – universities, hospitals and healthcare and so on. It is important and I enjoy doing it.”
As for those who suggest he should feel guilty for building a poker machine empire?
“No, not at all,” he said. “I don’t care about my reputation.”
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