ESL announced today a strategic restructuring of its executive branch as Chief Operating Officer David Neichel will be stepping up as Co-Chief Executive Officer alongside Founder and CEO, Ralf Reichert. The announcement states this sharing of leadership will allow Reichert to “focus on the ESL vision and strategy.”
Neichel joined the company in 2017 as COO after previously working with Activision-Blizzard as Vice President of Commercial Development and Canal Plus as Commercial Director. In his new position, Neichel will focus on managing key revenue streams and strengthening the global footprint of the company.
With this change in leadership Senior Vice President of Esports Services, Krzysztof Pikiewicz will transfer to Neichel’s former position as COO. Pikiewicz has worked with ESL since 2010 managing the Poland branch and will now look after production and all international operations.
This isn’t the first restructuring the company has seen as of late. Just weeks ago Jonas Alsaker Vikan stepped down as Tournament Director replaced by Alexander Nehr. With the interim Asia-Pacific Japan region CEO Sebastian Radu stepping down the company also recently appointed Nick Vanzetti and JB Hewitt Managing Directors of the region.
Esports Insider says: ESL is obviously a powerhouse when it comes to esports tournaments and production and it’s no surprise really that the leadership is regularly restructured as the company looks to expand. These changes will most likely mean nothing major from outsiders but we could potentially see changes in the future while the team continues to grow.