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Shaked was a true pioneer and innovator and – with his brother Avi – created one of the world’s biggest online gaming entities: 888 Holdings.

The brothers mortgaged their homes and the company was set up in 1997, because Shaked believed that the popularity of land based casinos – which were booming in the late 1990s – could be replicated on the Internet.

He was right.  By 2005, the business was ready to go public and the Shaked brothers both netted millions when the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange.

Shaked was a low key personality who spent much of his fortune on charity. Although he had no previous experience in gaming, he and his brother both believed that gambling on the Internet could become something huge.

Aharon Shaked told a British newspaper following the company's listing that his new found wealth would not change his life, vowing that rather than spend it all on fancy restaurants and new cars, he would put the profits toward charities for underprivileged children in Israel.