Polymarket cuts staff and contractors as it chases Kalshi

Polymarket has laid off some full-time employees and ended contractor agreements in a company reorganization, reducing its marketing contractor base particularly sharply as it seeks to expand in a prediction-market business now led by Kalshi in trading volume.

The company did not disclose the number of people affected, its total employee count or its contractor headcount. More than half of the cuts were contractors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Claims on social media that 30% of Polymarket staff had been cut were inaccurate, according to reporting by RG.org and Front Office Sports.

An authentic internal email informed contractors that their agreements would end effective Nov. 4. It was sent to contractors rather than full-time employees. Polymarket described the changes as part of a reorganization following growth and the arrival of new leadership, saying it had included new hiring, personnel changes and departures to prepare for its next phase of growth.

The staffing overhaul follows the October dismissal of former marketing chief Matthew Modabber, which we covered last month. He was replaced by former Uber executive Travis VanderZanden as chief growth officer. Polymarket also appointed Warren Jenson, formerly chief financial officer at Amazon, Electronic Arts and Delta Air Lines, as CFO in September.

The changes come as Polymarket tries to regain ground against Kalshi. Kalshi represented 73% of total prediction-market volume in the third quarter, compared with about 18% for Polymarket. Polymarket had previously led the market but now trails its rival in monthly trading volume; Kalshi has expanded distribution and struck partnerships including a FIFA World Cup deal.

Polymarket said annualized revenue had surpassed $1.8 billion, up from an annual revenue run rate above $1 billion in June, and attributed the increase to its U.S. exchange. It relaunched in the United States in December 2025 after nearly four years out of the market under a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Front Office Sports and RG.org reported that the reorganization was intended to professionalize Polymarket ahead of a possible public listing as soon as 2027. Polymarket was also preparing a reported $1 billion financing led by Donald Trump Jr.'s 1789 Capital at a valuation of about $21 billion, while Kalshi raised $1 billion at a $40 billion valuation in a round co-led by Sequoia and Wellington.