Dylan Jadeja becomes Riot’s new global president
According to an official statement from Riot Games, Nicolo Laurent will be stepping down as Riot Games’ CEO and will be succeeded by Dylan Jadeja as the company’s global president.
Laurent will step down from the CEO position after six years to focus more on his family. The CEO transition is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Since Riot Games was a “40-person startup” in 2009, Laurent has played a key role in its development and has led it to become a leading video game publisher. While Laurent led Riot Games, the company has been accused of fostering a sexist “bro culture,” during which he was accused (and later cleared) of sexual misconduct with his former assistant.
After 14 years at Riot and 6 as CEO, later this year I’ll check off something that’s been on my quest log for a while: Stepping away from CEO to focus on family, plan a relocation back to France, and play flex queue with my four kids (wishful thinking on that last bit). <1/3>
— nicolo (@niiicolo) May 11, 2023
Riot Games’ Jadeja joined the company in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer, and he holds the position of global president since 2017. As part of the three-year process to identify his successor, Laurent says that Riot looked within and outside the company for the best candidate for the role for the first time in its 17-year history.
In 2011, Jadeja joined Riot Games as Chief Financial Officer and subsequently became president of the company in 2017. According to Laurent, selecting his successor took three years, and for the first time in Riot’s 17-year history, the company searched both inside and outside to find the ideal candidate.
In an open letter, Laurent wrote, “I can imagine this news may feel sudden, but transparently, it’s a decision that’s been on my mind for a while. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a long and amazing journey with Riot.”
“While this chapter is coming to a close, I don’t view this as an end — I don’t plan on joining another company or starting a new company,” he added. Laurent said he intends to stay at Riot as an advisor “for years to come,” and that more details on the handover process to Jadeja will be shared in the coming weeks.
In his own open letter addressing Riot fans, Jadeja said, “As we look to the transition, it would be disingenuous for me to suggest that I have all the answers and an action plan already defined.”
“As CEO, it is fair to assume that I may do some things differently than those before me, but I want to assure you that the goal for us — together — will not waver. And that is to make Riot, unequivocally, the most trusted and authentic game company in the world… built by players, for players.”
[TW: SA]
In a 2018 investigation by Kotaku, several Riot female employees reported being sexually harassed, groomed for promotions, and receiving unsolicited pictures of their genitals.
It was said that one of Riot’s senior leaders, Laurent, had been known to grab his genitals and fart on his employees during meetings. Laurent went unnamed during the Kotaku expose.
Laurent, however, is reported to have protected some of the worst employees holding leadership roles at the company during this period, according to a report published by Wired in 2021.
There was a $100 million settlement reached between Riot and eight female former employees who filed a discrimination and harassment lawsuit in 2018.
