In an open letter sent to Enthusiast Gaming, the company’s largest shareholder Greywood, LLC is demanding some major changes to leadership. For starters, Greywood are asking current CEO Adrian Montgomery be removed from his position and be replaced by current COO Thamba Tharmalingam until a suitable replacement can be found.
Greywood, which owns 9.3% equity of Enthusiast Gaming, said in their public letter:
We came to this conclusion after a lengthy, careful and diligent assessment, during which we consulted with independent third-party firms, industry players, executive recruiters, prior employees, current employees, shareholders and other stakeholders. Our primary and clear conclusion is that the Company’s current Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), Adrian Montgomery, is a detriment to the Company’s management, operations, communications, and growth strategies and Enthusiast is failing to realize its potential under his leadership and under the direction of the Board of Directors, as it is currently constructed.
Our review has highlighted significant issues with the Company’s culture and governance, with the former attributable to Mr. Montgomery and the latter attributable to the Board; both are materially impeding the Company’s performance. We can see the result not only in the Company’s share price over the course of our investment, but also by the eroding industry-wide reputation of the Company. This cannot continue. We therefore intend to lead a campaign to change the leadership at Enthusiast and will be providing advance notice of our nomination of several highly qualified, accomplished and interested individuals to serve on the Company’s Board and to act in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders.
Some behind-the-scenes shenanigans came to light publicly after journalist Eli Pales uploaded a video to YouTube revealing that Enthusiast Gaming were paying their writers as little as $2 and still fired their entire staff. Enthusiast Gaming own several gaming outlets including Upcomer, Destructoid, Pocket Gamer, and The Escapist.
