Youbet.com Exec to Join Magna

Ron Luniewski, the co-chief executive officer of Youbet.com, is resigning from the online horse racing wagering company to run Magna Entertainment's new XpressBet interactive wagering business.

"I believe Magna will be the dominant player in horse racing, in the content they have and the different distribution channels they will be getting into," Luniewski told the Daily Racing Form.

Youbet.com is losing the man who directed the developed of its online pari-mutuel technology. Luniewski, 38, became the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer in February 1999. He became co-CEO with Phillip Hermann last November when chairman Robert Fell stepped down.

Luniewski has held several executive positions in engineering and software development. Before Youbet.com, he was vice president of marketing and advertising with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), an international company that now manages about 46,000 Internet servers and provides Web hosting for 750 clients.

Big changes continue at Youbet.com where Luniewski's resignation coincided with Fell resigning as chairman along with directors Caesar Kimmel and William Roedy. Co-founder and former vice chairman David Marshall is returning to the company and bringing with him $750,000 to prop up the cash-strapped company. Marshall will become CEO and Hermann will become president.

Marshall and Hermann declined comment until all the changes are finalized, which is expected to happen before March 24.

No one with Magna Entertainment could be reached for comment.