E-sports franchise owners

By Paresh Dave

A look at the own­ers of some of the top e-sports fran­chises that com­pete in tour­na­ments for pop­u­lar video games, in­clud­ing “League of Le­gends,” “Counter-Strike: Glob­al Of­fens­ive,” “Halo,” “Call of Duty,” and “Her­oes of the Storm.”

Owner Notes Franchise Select games
Frank Li Based in Australia The Chiefs eSports Call of Duty, League of Legends, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone
Kemal Sadıkoğlu Son of Turkish maritime and construction magnate Team Secret Dota 2
Wang Sicong Son of Wang Jianlin; chairman of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Invictus Gaming Dota 2
Alexander Kokhanovsky Ukranian franchise; former "Counter-Strike" pro player Natus Vincere Counter-Strike: Go, Heroes of the Storm, Dota 2, World of Tanks, FIFA, Hearthstone, League fo Legends
Andrew Christoforou Based in Britain Team Infused Call of Duty, Gears of War, Counter-Strike: Go
Andy Dinh Former “League of Legends” pro player based in Santa Monica TSM League of Legends, Hearthstone, Counter-Strike: Go, Super Smash Bros., Call of Duty, Vainglory
Andy Miller and Mark Mastrov Sacramento Kings co-owners; joined by Gerard Kelly and sports stars Alex Rodriguez, Shaquille O’Neal and Jimmy Rollins NRG League of Legends, Counter-Stike: Go
Brandon Hatfield IT engineer Team Elevate Call of Duty, Gears of War, Halo, Overwatch, Rainbow 6, Smite, Starcraft 2
Brandte Boyles and Nick Bobir Based in Australia Tainted Minds Call of Duty, League of Legends, Smite
Carlos Rodriguez Santiago Based in Spain; former “League of Legends” pro player G2 Esports League of Legends, Vainglory
Cengiz Tüylü Based in Germany mousesports Counter-Strike: Go, League of Legends, Vainglory, Starcraft 2, FIFA
Christopher Mykles ESports broadcaster Renegades Halo, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: GO
Enrique Cedeño Martínez Based in Spain Origen League of Legends
ESforce Holding Based in Russia; lead investor is billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s USM Holdings Virtus.pro Counter-Strike: Go, Dota 2
George Georgallidis U.S., former gamer Counter Logic Gaming Counter-Strike: Go, Halo, League of Legends
GoodGame Agency Purchased in 2014 by Twitch, which is owned by Amazon.com Inc. Evil Geniuses Dota 2, Halo, Starcraft 2
Greg Champagne A Belgian and former IT manager Epsilon eSports Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: GO, Halo, League of Legends, FIFA, Battlefield, Rainbow 6 PC, Rainbow 6 Xbox
Hicham Chahine Former wealth fund manager; franchise based in Sweden Ninjas in Pyjamas Counter-Strike: Go
Hector Rodriguez Early YouTube star in gaming; based in Chicago OpTic Gaming Call of Duty
Jack “Vandy” Frierson Team Naventic Heroes of the Storm
Jack Etienne Former vice president of sales at Crunchyroll; franchise based in Los Angeles Cloud9 Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends, Hearthstone, Counter-Strike: GO, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros.
Jason Bass and Jason Lake Veteran eSports media executive; attorney compLexity Gaming Dota 2, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: GO, Hearthstone, Starcraft 2
Jie Ruru Pan Based in China LGD Gaming Dota 2
Joel Holmes-Darby and Kieran Holmes-Darby Management consultant; student exceL eSports Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Go, FIFA, Gears of War, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Smite
Josh Newman and Chris Matlock Based in U.S. Team Allegiance Halo, Smite
Kahreem Horsley and Rodger Saffold Former pro player; Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Rise Nation Call of Duty
Ki Soo Han Pro player; franchise based in South Korea Team No Limit Heroes of the Storm
Liwei Sun Team captain eStar Gaming Heroes of the Storm
Venture capitalist Clinton Foy, Lionsgate movie studio executive Peter Levin, Memphis Grizzlies basketball team co-owner and Oaktree Capital Chairman Steve Kaplan, XPrize Chief Operating Officer Paul Rappoport and the venture capital arm of rock band Linkin Park Other investors are Allen DeBevoise, chairman of online video network Machinima; Gregory Milken, managing director at venture capital firm March Capital Partners; Brian Lee, chief executive of consumer product company Honest Co.; and Akinobu Yorihiro, U.S. CEO of Japanese entertainment company Yoshimoto Kogyo. Immortals League of Legends
Lu Wenjun Franchise based in China Vici Gaming Dota 2
Marty Strenczewilk Former corporate environmental manager Splyce Call of Duty, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: GO, Hearthstone
Michael O'Dell Former pro player Dignitas Heroes of the Storm, Counter-Strike: GO, League of Legends
Mike Rufail Former e-sports broadcaster and gaming products entrepreneur; franchise based in U.S. Team Envyus Call of Duty, Halo, League of Legends, Overwatch, Smite, Starcraft
Patrik Andersson Based in Sweden Orbit Call of Duty, Rocket League and Counter-Strike: GO
Reagan Koryozo Fitness trained; franchise based in Australia Mindfreak Call of Duty
Webedia Media conglomerate; franchise based in France Millennium Call of Duty, League of Legends
Robert Bowling Veteran video game developer Denial eSports Halo, Gears of War
Sam Mathews Tech entrepreneur Fnatic Counter-Strike: Go, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm
SK Telecom South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom T1 League of Legends
Steve Maida Franchise based in Toronto Luminosity Gaming Counter-Strike: Go, Overwatch, Smite, League of Legends
Steve Arhancet, Victor Goossens Former pro gamers Team Liquid Counter-Strike: Go, Halo, Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends
Susan Tully Former chief financial officer of Kanye West’s West Brands and vice president at Universal Music Group; joined by Richard Wells, Richard Lippe, David Lippe, Shayne Gary, and Mitchell Blatt; franchise based in Britain H2K Gaming League of Legends
Player-owned Based in Denmark Astralis Counter-Strike: Go
Thomas Oliveira FaZe Clan Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Go
Tony Trubridge Based in Australia Team Immunity Call of Duty
YY Chinese online video giant; franchise based in South Korea ROX Tigers League of Legends

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Sources: Times reporting, ESL, Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment and the teams