Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, president and CEO of ESL and DreamHack parent company Modern Times Group (MTG), has submitted his letter of resignation to the company board.
Lindemann, who was promoted to the roles in 2012, will remain at the company for up to 12 months per his employment contract until the board appoints a replacement.
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“After 26 years of service, he has decided to step down to free up time to pursue other challenges and for the company to facilitate its long-term CEO succession planning,” reads MTG’s statement. “The Board has reluctantly accepted Jørgen Madsen Lindemann’s resignation.”
Lindemann served a number of other roles for the company after joining in 1994 as the Head of Interactive Services, including Head of Sponsorship for TV3 and Executive Vice President of MTG’s Nordic broadcasting options.
MTG’s board will survey its succession candidate lists, both internally and externally, and utilise search firms as it seeks a new president and CEO. Additionally, MTG announced that Chairman David Chance has informed the firm that he will not seek re-election to the board once his term ends in May 2021, following 20 years with the company.
Lindemann’s planned departure comes at a time of seeming strength for the company. Despite the global economic crisis and impact of the pandemic on esports and other industries, MTG this morning reported Q2 2020 earnings including a “relatively strong quarter” for its esports division and its best-ever earnings from its InnoGames browser and mobile gaming business.
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“The esports vertical performed better than anticipated compared with the financial guidance for the first half of 2020,” commented Lindemann in the earnings report. “This was driven by new agreements with media partners such as Twitch, higher esports services (ESS) revenue and stronger performance by our business to consumer (B2C) product. Equally important factors included good cost control and a more favorable revenue mix with a larger high-margin media component during the quarter.”
In a busy day already for MTG and its companies, ESL and DreamHack also announced a streaming partnership with Chinese platform HUYA that covers both its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 events.
Esports Insider says: Lindemann has been at the top throughout MTG’s esports ventures, and even amidst the pandemic, the business continues to thrive. It’ll be interesting to see not only who MTG picks to succeed Lindemann, but also whether he remains in the space in a new role elsewhere.
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