Passport Leadership

Cleve Tzung

Chief Executive Officer

Cleve brings over twenty years of M&A transactions, capital markets, and strategic planning to Passport, having served in numerous senior executive roles at Mattel, Pepsi, Verizon Wireless, Deutsche Bank, and Berenson & Company. As head of Corporate Development at Mattel, Cleve's team accounted for over $1 billion in product acquisitions and integrations. He also built and led teams to source and initiate growth and technology partnership discussions. Prior to Mattel, Mr. Tzung executed numerous M&A transactions as an investment banker and invested in public equities at a $3 billion long-short investment fund. Additionally, Mr. Tzung formulated strategy for a number of years in PepsiCo’s strategic planning group. He holds a Master's in Business Administration from UCLA and Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Applied Science from Wharton and the University of Pennsylvania. Cleve resides in Los Angeles, CA.

John Steely

Chief Operating & Information Officer

John is a visionary and innovator in payment services and related solutions for brick-and-mortar casinos and bank-sponsored transaction processing in the United States.

John's 34 years of executive management experience including his former role as President and CEO of ASAI, provides Passport the stability and bold thinking required to be the preeminent payment provider in gaming. John pioneered many new payment solutions and break-through technologies in casinos over his storied career and continues today as the vanguard in cashless, cash recycling and casino automation.

John founded ASAI in 1996 to meet the demanding needs of the rapidly growing ATM marketplace by incorporating a full range of ATM products and services under one roof. By developing and consolidating robust cash vaulting, transaction processing, and equipment service solutions, ASAI was a trailblazer in providing clients access to a suite of products necessary to build, operate and grow a successful ATM portfolio.

Paul Nielsen

Chief Financial Officer

Paul Nielsen brings over 25 years of experience in fintech with a deep understanding of the evolution of payments in gaming and broader transaction processing categories. Paul’s analytical mindset, commitment to regulatory compliance, extensive M&A exposure and experience collaborating with management in developing strategic financial methodologies is a tremendous asset to Passport.

Previous to Passport, Paul served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Gaming for ASAI, with primary responsibility for accounting, business development and portfolio management. Before joining ASAI, Paul served in a variety of leadership positions including Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Bank’s gaming division, Vice President of Finance for Rocky Mountain BankCard System’s payment processing division, as well as positions in sales and product management.

Before entering the payments industry Paul enjoyed an early career in Silicon Valley as a lead research physicist engaged in technology development for the energy sector, funded by the Gas Research Institute and Department of Energy.

Paul holds a Master of Science in Finance and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver and a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Redlands.

Jason H. King

Chief Revenue Officer

Jason H. King has global responsibility to deliver organic revenue and profitability growth drawing upon his 13 years in payments and gaming with extensive experience in North America, EMEA, South America and Asia. Jason’s diverse sales leadership experience and objective driven plans will turbo-charge growth providing significant opportunities for Passport. Jason is a proven business builder and his ability to foster relationships, consistently perform above expectations and deep understanding of technology is a clear point of difference.

Prior to joining Passport, Jason served as Executive Vice President, Sales & Business Development with Apriva the industry leading self-service transaction processing platform where he managed omni-channel sales, marketing, product and innovation teams. Prior to Apriva, Jason spent 9 years with EVERI (NYSE:EVRI) the largest casino payment services company where he developed international strategy and expanded Everi's global footprint through aggressive and thoughtful sales execution.

Before joining Everi, Jason worked for the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, holding operational roles at both the Venetian Las Vegas and the Venetian Macau Ltd.

Jacqueline Sarcinelli

SVP, Corporate Controller & Compliance

Jacqueline Sarcinelli brings decades of entrepreneurial and executive management experience to Passport Technology.

The co-founder of Automated Systems America, Inc. in 1996, Jacqueline served as an Officer and Director spearheading corporate finance and revenue management, human resources, and gaming compliance, obtaining 50+ privileged gaming licenses across the United States.

A strong advocate for women in business, Jacqueline has been a supporter of the Women in Tribal Gaming Symposium since inception and actively works to recruit women for wide variety of positions. Jacqueline is actively involved with numerous social organizations, including Brave Trails and the Fred Jordan Mission, and sponsors multiple children through World Vision.

Diallo Gordon

Principal Consultant – Digital Wallet, Loyalty & Innovation

Diallo Gordon brings over 25 years of servant-based leadership, innovation, and technology experience to Passport, having served various engineering, management, and executive roles in defense, regulatory compliance, gaming, and payments.

Previous to Passport, Diallo served as the Founder and CEO of Phi Gaming, LLC, where his team built several innovative loyalty products for the B2B systems industry leading to the acquisition of Phi by Passport. Prior to Phi, Diallo spent 5 years with EVERI (NYSE:EVRI) in various leadership roles, including EVP and General Manager, where he led technology, operations, product, service, and the successful M&A and integration of Western Money Systems and MCA processing into the Casino Xchange portfolio of products. Prior to EVERI, Diallo spent 6 years with Aristocrat Technologies, Inc. (ASX:ALL) as Director Oasis Regional Support leading professional services and technical account management for Aristocrat systems customers. Prior to ATI, Diallo’s start in gaming came as a Lab Engineer for the Mississippi Gaming Commission, where he was responsible for the evaluation, test, and approval for both gaming systems and slot products. Prior to gaming, Diallo served the United States Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration in various engineering and technology roles in advanced weapons research and flight safety operations. Diallo is a proud veteran of the United States Air Force, where he served honorably as an Airborne Instrumentation and Telemetry Antenna PMEE on the EC-18 and EC-135 Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA), amassing numerous flight hours and mission deployments as an aircrew member supporting weapons and space research by various government agencies, allied countries, and private industry.

Diallo holds multiple undergraduate degrees in Electronics Engineering Technology, Business Management, and Business Administration. He attended the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) and earned a Master of Science in Information Systems from the University of Maryland.