€800 million on paper: the questions surrounding Blaze founder Nick van Gorsel 

A Dutch name in a Curaçao licensing file leads to one of Brazil’s best-known gambling brands. According to Follow the Money (FTM), Nick van Gorsel is listed alongside American Nicholas Beugg as an ultimate beneficial owner of Prolific Trade N.V., the company behind Blaze.com. In his application, Van Gorsel declared a personal net worth of €800 million in 2024. 

In our earlier article about the hack of the Curaçao Gaming Authority, the central question was who the owners behind hundreds of gambling companies actually are. Van Gorsel warrants a separate story. His name has appeared in commercial announcements alongside Neymar and Brazilian football clubs, while remarkably little is publicly known with certainty about his background and wealth. What can be independently verified, and what do we know only because he reported it himself to a regulator? 

From unknown Dutchman to Blaze co-founder 

Van Gorsel was born in Bergen op Zoom in 1996, according to FTM. There is little reliable public information about his childhood, education or first business ventures. The background material provided to Gambling Club for this follow-up article mentions a gambling-related domain registration from 2015 as an early trace. Even if that registration was in his name, it only shows an interest in such a domain; it does not prove that an operational casino already existed at the time. 

His later role at Blaze is better documented. In 2023, Santos FC introduced Van Gorsel as a co-founder of the gambling brand when announcing a sponsorship agreement. NR Sports, the company associated with Neymar, referred to him as chief operating officer, or COO, in connection with its partnership with the footballer. These are public descriptions provided by commercial partners, separate from the ownership information that later emerged in the Curaçao file. 

Blaze pursued high visibility in Brazil. The brand worked with influencers and football organizations and became the main sponsor of Santos, the club closely associated with Neymar. For an online casino, such a partnership is about more than a logo on a shirt: a famous club and a global star can quickly put a brand in front of millions of sports fans. 

That strategy coincided with the rise of Brazil’s gambling market. Gambling Club previously described how quickly the online gambling market in Brazil expanded. For Blaze, that growth created opportunities, but also an environment in which advertising, player protection and licensing increasingly became subjects of regulatory scrutiny. 

Neymar gave Blaze a global face 

The partnership with Neymar gave Blaze international visibility. On the NR Sports website, Van Gorsel is explicitly identified as COO of Blaze.com in the announcement of that partnership. The company also described plans to promote the brand through the footballer’s social media channels. 

That establishes a business connection between Van Gorsel, Blaze and the Neymar campaign. It says nothing about a personal friendship between the entrepreneur and the footballer. Photos, sponsorship materials and joint events can easily create that impression, but they do not constitute proof of such a relationship. 

The scale of these campaigns does help explain why Blaze became so visible in Brazil. Football clubs, celebrities and online creators can take a gambling brand into spaces where ordinary advertising would have less reach. At the same time, that visibility increases the responsibility associated with what such promotions promise consumers. Gambling Club previously reported on the Brazilian debate over illegal gambling advertising and the role of influencers. That article concerns the broader market and does not in itself constitute a judgment on any individual Blaze campaign. 

What did the Curaçao file reveal? 

For years, outsiders found it difficult to determine which natural persons were behind Blaze’s international operations. According to FTM’s investigation, the Curaçao licensing file identifies Van Gorsel and Beugg as the two ultimate beneficial owners of Prolific Trade N.V., the company behind Blaze.com. 

A UBO listing is significant because it is intended to give a regulator insight into who has an economic interest in and exercises control over a company. However, it does not automatically reveal exactly how shares, profits or voting rights are divided between two individuals. The fact that Van Gorsel and Beugg were both listed as owners therefore does not prove that each holds a 50 percent share. 

The documents became public through the Casino Secrets investigation. Cybersecurity researcher Lilith Wittmann gained access to the Curaçao Gaming Authority’s licensing system in late 2025 and obtained tens of thousands of confidential documents. FTM subsequently examined, among other things, ownership declarations and assessments of licensing applications. Gambling Club has not independently reviewed the hacked Prolific Trade file and therefore explicitly attributes the information derived from it to FTM. 

A net worth of €800 million, according to his own declaration 

The figure attracting the most attention comes from Van Gorsel’s own declaration. According to FTM, he reported a personal net worth of €800 million to the Curaçao regulator in 2024. In an explanation, he attributed that wealth to Blaze’s success. According to the same investigation, Beugg declared a net worth of €500 million. 

What this establishes is what, according to FTM, was stated in the licensing documents. That is different from an independently verified valuation of either man’s private wealth. No complete public breakdown is available showing how much of the €800 million consists of shares, real estate, cash or other assets, or what liabilities may be set against those assets. According to FTM, Van Gorsel and Beugg did not respond to questions from the investigative platform. 

That distinction is essential for readers. A stake in a fast-growing company may have a high paper value without meaning that the owner has the same amount freely available to spend. Such a valuation also depends on assumptions about revenue, profit, growth and the exact size of the person’s ownership stake. The Curaçao wealth declaration makes Van Gorsel a notable figure in the gambling industry, but it does not yet provide a complete financial portrait of him. 

The background material provided for this article also points to companies outside Curaçao, including in Malta, the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom. Such corporate traces can help reconstruct business activities. They should not, however, be added together without further documentation to produce an estimate of his personal wealth. Nor can a stake in one jointly held investment company automatically be used to infer how ownership of Blaze as a whole is divided. 

In Brazil, Blaze operates under a local licence 

Blaze is not visible solely through Curaçao. On the official list of authorised gambling companies maintained by Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, Foggo Entertainment Ltda. is listed as the licence holder for the Blaze and Jonbet brands and their Brazilian domains. 

That is an important distinction when assessing the brand. A Curaçao licence does not in itself grant permission to operate regulated gambling services in Brazil. Foggo’s presence on the Brazilian government list shows which local licence holder is used to offer the brands there. In itself, however, that listing does not establish Van Gorsel’s personal stake in Foggo or clarify all the corporate relationships behind the brand. 

The transition to a regulated Brazilian market changed the conditions for all operators. Gambling Club previously reported on the first Brazilian gambling licences and the requirements imposed on companies seeking to operate legally. For a brand that was already well known through football partnerships and online campaigns, obtaining a local licence became a necessary step to continue operating within that system. 

Player complaints and a case concerning gambling advertising 

Blaze’s growth has been accompanied by criticism. In Brazil, players have complained about blocked balances and problems with withdrawals, among other issues. A complaint or lawsuit is not proof that a company acted improperly in every case mentioned. Individual files must be assessed separately, and some proceedings end without a substantive ruling. 

The attention from Brazilian authorities is, however, concrete. In June 2026, the public prosecutor’s office of the Federal District announced that it had opened a civil investigation into possible irregularities involving Blaze. It referred to an analysis of more than 42,000 registered complaints. That figure represents complaints that were examined, not 42,000 proven violations. Among other things, prosecutors sought clarification on how account balances were handled and on contracts with influencers, including Neymar. 

In July, a civil case followed concerning the way Blaze and influencer Virgínia Fonseca promoted online betting. According to prosecutors, certain statements could give consumers the impression that gambling offers an easy or guaranteed way to make money. A court ruling imposed preliminary restrictions on advertising that breached the stated conditions. That interim decision should be distinguished from the eventual substantive assessment of the case. 

These proceedings concern the company and its marketing. The available sources do not show that Van Gorsel personally blocked a player account, refused a withdrawal or drafted the disputed advertising messages. His publicly stated role as co-founder and former chief operating officer makes questions about policy and oversight relevant, but personal responsibility requires separate evidence. 

The Curaçao connection raises broader questions 

Blaze is not an isolated case in the debate over the international gambling industry. Curaçao-based companies are involved with many brands targeting players abroad. Gambling Club previously reported on Curaçao gambling companies that came under scrutiny in a Brazilian fraud investigation. That concerned other companies; there is no basis for attributing the suspicions in that case to Blaze or Van Gorsel. The common issue is the question of how effectively authorities can understand cross-border corporate structures. 

The Van Gorsel case shows how many different questions can lie behind a single striking figure. His business role at Blaze is publicly documented. His listing as a UBO of Prolific Trade and the €800 million declaration were identified by FTM in the Curaçao file. Brazil lists a local licence holder for the brand. What is still not fully established in the public record is how his declared wealth is composed and how his economic rights are distributed across the full corporate structure. 

In this way, the initial Casino Secrets revelation has produced a concrete follow-up. The name of an owner is now known. The documents also make clear which questions about wealth, control and regulatory oversight still remain unanswered.