Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
Leadership is shifting dramatically at Riot Games this week as Nicolo Laurent prepares to step down from the CEO role at the company. The company has announced that Riot Games global president A. Dylan Jadeja will take up the role as Laurent steps back to an advisory role and aids in Jadeja’s transition into the CEO position over the next few months. This also comes just as Riot Games is paying out around $100 million USD to 1,548 women involved in a previous gender discrimination lawsuit.
Riot Games announced Nicolo Laurent’s departure from the CEO role at Riot Games and A. Dylan Jadeja as his successor in a press release on the Riot Games website. In the announcement, Laurent claims the exit is part of a desire to mitigate his stress and focus on his family, as well as moving back to his home country of France. Jadeja joined Riot Games in 2011 as a Chief Financial Officer, becoming Chief Operating Officer by 2014 and moving up to global president by 2017. Laurent will not be leaving the company, but instead take on an advisory role as he helps Jadeja move into the CEO role.
It's worth noting that this transition also comes as Riot Games is officially paying out the results of a gender discrimination lawsuit settled in 2022. Riot Games agreed to pay out $100 million at the end of the suit and that payout will go to an alleged 1,548 employees and contractors involved in the suit, as reported by Axios. Though Riot Games mentions nothing of the suit or the payout in the CEO transition announcement, it’s difficult not to see some level of connective tissue from the company that previously ran a special internal investigation during the suit and claimed Laurent did not harass employees, especially as Jadeja’s opening words claim that things may be different under his leadership and that one of the company’s core goal is to build trust.
“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,” said Jadeja. “And that is to make Riot, unequivocally, the most trusted and authentic game company in the world… built by players, for players.”
Nonetheless, it seems Laurent’s closing chapter as CEO of Riot Games ends up being a muddled one as Riot Games settles the final sums of its costly lawsuit. Stay tuned as we continue to follow for further news.