The announcement by Mitch Garber that he is to stand down as chief executive of PartyGaming after only two years in the post may cement the perception that its executives regard the internet gambling company as a cash machine.

The Canadian's predecessor, the former Odeon Cinemas boss Richard Segal, quit less than a year after its controversial stock market flotation, having pocketed well over £30 million in salary, bonuses, perks and - most lucratively of all - share options. Mr Garber, 43, joined on a package worth a total of about £40 million, although the American ban on internet gambling less than six months into his tenure led to his incentive scheme being scrapped and replaced with a new package worth around £18 million. He said that his decision not to renew his contract beyond May next year was “a long-term family decision” that would allow him to return to his native Canada with his wife and two children. He said that he had given such a long notice period to “facilitate a very easy transition”.

Mr Garber joined PartyGaming from FireOne, an AIM-listed payment processing company for the online gaming industry, where he was executive chairman. He was simultaneously executive vice-president of Optimal Group, FireOne's Nasdaq-listed majority shareholder. His involvement with internet gaming goes back to his days as a lawyer in the 1990s, when he developed the first gaming law practice in Canada for the Montreal-based firm Lazarus Charbonneau. He graduated in civil law from the University of Ottowa.

Mr Garber is credited with restoring PartyGaming's fortunes after a large part of its core PartyPoker business was wiped out by the US ban. Yesterday, as he unveiled better-than-expected 2007 earnings on slightly below-forecast revenue growth, he claimed that PartyGaming had been “reorganised, repackaged and relaunched as a more broadly-based and international business”.