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On October 27 2014 03:38 felisconcolori wrote:
Full scale speculation incoming, on the basis of nothing.
Robert is a passionate CEO. He is running the company. He is also, like nearly every C-level executive I've ever met in every industry (and this includes billion dollar companies), is somewhat authoritarian in demeanor, firm in his convictions, and willing to offend to get things done. (To be frank, a bit of an a-hole. Charming to be sure, but willing to be rude or even insulting to get things done.)
At some point, he and another individual within Dreamhack had a disagreement. By virtue of "I'm the CEO, deal with it" - Robert got his way. It could have been anything from "We'd rather not run StarCraft II" to "I think we should go with cheaper champagne" to "Let's go out for drinks." Anything at all. Alternately, it could have been nothing. It could just be someone in the company that wants to be CEO, because there lies the power and money and limo rides with Geoff Robinson (truly, glorious treasure to seek).
So, for whatever reason, some behind the scenes business maneuvering happens. The board votes Robert out, and a new CEO in. Since this CEO is an internal hire, I'm guessing this is not an overnight decision - and that it's been coming. But, you don't tell Robert that. So Robert, who has been pouring his passion into Dreamhack, suddenly finds out that the board has turned against him and decided someone else should run things. Of course it's going to be upsetting, and he'll be angry. You don't get to be a CEO of any company without being willing to say unpleasant things. So he does. Is it applicable to how he was removed? We don't know. Could Robert have instead said he was "taking time off to be with his family" or similar excuse? Maybe. Then again, a lot of times CEOs leave (or are fired) in a different way, with various things (like severances) tied to toeing the party line on the separation.
People that would like to wait for more information - kudos. A sensible idea, however I am 99.9% certain that we will never know exactly what it was that caused the sudden firing of Robert Ohlen from the point of view of objective, indisputable fact.
My opinion is irrelevant - it's a done deal. But you can bet I will be watching to see what Dreamhack does as an organization, how their events are run (for Starcraft II - I don't care about the dotos and others), and if their level of performance stays at their current level.
Best wishes to the new CEO (that will have to deal with all of this), even if s/he is the one behind the firing. Best wishes to Robert Ohlen, who has proven himself (via the performance of Dreamhack) to be a competent CEO and, like the guy at T-Mobile (not an actor, surprisingly), has proven popular with a lot of customers. And best wishes to Dreamhack - don't fuck it up going forward.
PS. Adebisi next CEO??
It reads like a Kotaku editorial !!
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Bring him over to Amuricah to run some Sc2 events
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Good riddance. What a little child.
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Any esports journalists around? From what i've read this is the second not-so-friendly change of leadership for Dreamhack, could be an interesting story or something.
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This is when I switch to reddit quickry 
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On October 27 2014 03:38 felisconcolori wrote:
PS. Adebisi next CEO??
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so im assuming rob didnt want some of the decisions to happen and majority of the board were against him?
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To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from.
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On October 27 2014 08:23 TRaFFiC wrote:
To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from.
ur right man, what if the CEO was betrayed by his fellow companions, how would u react?
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On October 26 2014 22:55 aTnClouD wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2014 22:41 whereismymind wrote:
he is acting like a kid now after being sacked.. probably he was sacked unfair, or not.. you know how ego and arrogance clashes after you have power.. but this scene perfectly explains that adults actuallly never grow up. To be fair, few people would be in their right mind after being fired by their own company and life project.
How is Dreamhack Roberts life project? And it wasn't like Robert got the position under clear circumstances either, just ask the former CEO if he felt he was treated fairly by Roberts family(at the time Roberts father owned 50% of Dreamhack, don't know what it looks like today)
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On October 27 2014 08:53 Appendix wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2014 22:55 aTnClouD wrote:On October 26 2014 22:41 whereismymind wrote:
he is acting like a kid now after being sacked.. probably he was sacked unfair, or not.. you know how ego and arrogance clashes after you have power.. but this scene perfectly explains that adults actuallly never grow up. To be fair, few people would be in their right mind after being fired by their own company and life project. How is Dreamhack Roberts life project? And it wasn't like Robert got the position under clear circumstances either, just ask the former CEO if he felt he was treated fairly by Roberts family(at the time Roberts father owned 50% of Dreamhack, don't know what it looks like today)
Well, don't leave us hanging. It's pretty unfair to slander someone and then don't state your source or information.
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On October 27 2014 08:23 TRaFFiC wrote:
To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from.
What hate? Calling Robert's Twitter posts unprofessional isn't being melodramatic or hostile, it's stating a fact. His Twitter posts are not likely to help him secure another job now that he's lost this one. That is the very definition of "unprofessional." Should we care about that kind of behavior? That's up to every individual to decide for themselves, but in this thread there have been like... two people who straight up criticized the man?
Overreacting about overreacting, imo.
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On October 27 2014 08:53 Appendix wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2014 22:55 aTnClouD wrote:On October 26 2014 22:41 whereismymind wrote:
he is acting like a kid now after being sacked.. probably he was sacked unfair, or not.. you know how ego and arrogance clashes after you have power.. but this scene perfectly explains that adults actuallly never grow up. To be fair, few people would be in their right mind after being fired by their own company and life project. How is Dreamhack Roberts life project? And it wasn't like Robert got the position under clear circumstances either, just ask the former CEO if he felt he was treated fairly by Roberts family(at the time Roberts father owned 50% of Dreamhack, don't know what it looks like today)
when you are a CEO of a company, usually you make the well being of that company and the growth of it your life projec, at least short term.
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On October 27 2014 09:21 pure.Wasted wrote:Show nested quote +On October 27 2014 08:23 TRaFFiC wrote:
To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from. What hate? Calling Robert's Twitter posts unprofessional isn't being melodramatic or hostile, it's stating a fact. His Twitter posts are not likely to help him secure another job now that he's lost this one. That is the very definition of "unprofessional." Should we care about that kind of behavior? That's up to every individual to decide for themselves, but in this thread there have been like... two people who straight up criticized the man? Overreacting about overreacting, imo.
Unprofessional "below or contrary to the standards expected in a particular profession." It's not a fact. It's an opinion. People on the internet are always too quick to judge others. It's too easy to hold people to ridiculous standards while eating icecream out of the box in your basement suite. Twitter isn't that important, even in the e-sports world. He has 10k followers compared to incontrol who has 50k. Does that mean incontrol is more capable of getting a high paying job? No. If he were to look for a job outside of e-sports, I don't think anyone would even notice twitter.
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On October 27 2014 09:30 TRaFFiC wrote:Show nested quote +On October 27 2014 09:21 pure.Wasted wrote:On October 27 2014 08:23 TRaFFiC wrote:
To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from. What hate? Calling Robert's Twitter posts unprofessional isn't being melodramatic or hostile, it's stating a fact. His Twitter posts are not likely to help him secure another job now that he's lost this one. That is the very definition of "unprofessional." Should we care about that kind of behavior? That's up to every individual to decide for themselves, but in this thread there have been like... two people who straight up criticized the man? Overreacting about overreacting, imo. Unprofessional "below or contrary to the standards expected in a particular profession." It's not a fact. It's an opinion. People on the internet are always too quick to judge others. It's too easy to hold people to ridiculous standards while eating icecream out of the box in your basement suite. Twitter isn't that important, even in the e-sports world. He has 10k followers compared to incontrol who has 50k. Does that mean incontrol is more capable of getting a high paying job? No. If he were to look for a job outside of e-sports, I don't think anyone would even notice twitter.
People thought the same thing about facebook 10 years ago... Now it's not uncommon for employers to ask for a person's facebook as part of the interview process.
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On October 27 2014 09:30 TRaFFiC wrote:Show nested quote +On October 27 2014 09:21 pure.Wasted wrote:On October 27 2014 08:23 TRaFFiC wrote:
To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from. What hate? Calling Robert's Twitter posts unprofessional isn't being melodramatic or hostile, it's stating a fact. His Twitter posts are not likely to help him secure another job now that he's lost this one. That is the very definition of "unprofessional." Should we care about that kind of behavior? That's up to every individual to decide for themselves, but in this thread there have been like... two people who straight up criticized the man? Overreacting about overreacting, imo. Unprofessional "below or contrary to the standards expected in a particular profession." It's not a fact. It's an opinion. People on the internet are always too quick to judge others. It's too easy to hold people to ridiculous standards while eating icecream out of the box in your basement suite. Twitter isn't that important, even in the e-sports world. He has 10k followers compared to incontrol who has 50k. Does that mean incontrol is more capable of getting a high paying job? No. If he were to look for a job outside of e-sports, I don't think anyone would even notice twitter.
Prospective employers will look at those tweets and say "do we want to risk that sort of PR shitstorm falling on our heads if we hire Robert and offend his sensibilities?" A CEO in our culture is expected to be dignified and cordial. Robert's tweets are neither. Therefore they are unprofessional.
This isn't an attack on the man, you don't need to take a bullet for him.
edit: I have no idea why you brought up InControl or how many viewers they have.
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On October 27 2014 08:23 TRaFFiC wrote:
To all the people saying he's unprofessional, he didn't disclose any of DH's information in his tweets. I'm sure he wanted to set the record straight, but all he did was express his anger. Nothing wrong with that. He's only human. You should walk in a man's shoes before judging him. And he went on a few talk shows after having a few drinks, big deal. He WASN'T drunk, just tipsy. He still brought up a lot of good points. You guys rather have a CEO who never interacts with the community because fools like you come on the forum and say it's "unprofessional" when you obviously have no idea what it means to be CEO. Seriously, I don't understand where all this hate is coming from.
1. It's not arbitrary hate; it's criticism regarding how he handled his firing.
2. No one is saying that being professional means "never interacts with the community", so please don't create the false dichotomy between Either being unprofessional on Twitter or Never interacting with the community. You can have a Twitter and not rage at your (ex)company. It's called not burning bridges.
3. You basically just said "He wasn't unprofessional... he just went on a few talk shows while tipsy and flipped out on Twitter." I think many (if not most) people would categorize that as being unprofessional.
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On October 27 2014 09:16 TRaFFiC wrote:Show nested quote +On October 27 2014 08:53 Appendix wrote:On October 26 2014 22:55 aTnClouD wrote:On October 26 2014 22:41 whereismymind wrote:
he is acting like a kid now after being sacked.. probably he was sacked unfair, or not.. you know how ego and arrogance clashes after you have power.. but this scene perfectly explains that adults actuallly never grow up. To be fair, few people would be in their right mind after being fired by their own company and life project. How is Dreamhack Roberts life project? And it wasn't like Robert got the position under clear circumstances either, just ask the former CEO if he felt he was treated fairly by Roberts family(at the time Roberts father owned 50% of Dreamhack, don't know what it looks like today) Well, don't leave us hanging. It's pretty unfair to slander someone and then don't state your source or information.
http://nyheter24.se/nyheter/inrikes/517885-blodig-agarkonflikt-fortsatter-i-dreamhack
http://www.realtid.se/ArticlePages/201102/24/20110224163916_Realtid271/20110224163916_Realtid271.dbp.asp
I don't know if it is comprehensible with google translate, but basically Robert and the other guy, David Garpenståhl, bought Dreamhack and split the ownership in 2006, but Garpenståhl was in charge of running the event. He was officially made CEO in the fall of 2009, but was abrubtly fired in the spring of 2010 by Roberts father, Bernt Ohlen, whom Robert had transferred his part of the ownership to. The stated reason being "He didn't handle his job properly", and no article I have read nor David himself have found any more specifics. According to David this was made possible because Bernt had sold Davids shares to a friend of his for 1 SEK(less than $0,20) citing some irregularities in Davids accounting. With the newly found majority vote they issued new shares, and while the selling of Davids shares have been deemed unrightful in court, they afterwards only amounted to 6% ownership in the company leaving Ohlén with a majority ownership.
Quotes from David:
"That I "didn't handly my job properly" was just a false pretense so that the Ohlén family could go behind my back and hijack the company board only to coup the businesses and try to list them on the stock exchange"
+ Show Spoiler +– Att jag "inte skött mitt jobb" var endast en påhittad orsak för familjen Ohlén för att gå bakom min rygg och kapa bolagets styrelse och för att sedan kuppa företagen och försöka sätta dem på börsen.
"I feel totally run over and very disappointed"
+ Show Spoiler +– Jag känner mig helt överkörd och väldigt besviken.
I haven't found any more court results, but at the time they had multiple law suits running side by side. I also don't know who was guilty of what since most info is coming from the people involved. Maybe someone on this site closer to the Dreamhack operation can clear some things up. There definitely seems to have been some murky waters though, and the narrative coming from Robert today is eerily similar to that of David in 2010.
EDIT:
Small disclaimer
I don't know Robert, David or anyone else involved with Dreamhack. I have never even been to one. For all I know David could have been the shadiest person alive or a complete saint. All I know is what is written in the articles I have found and that Dreamhack seems to have been doing great under Davids management between 2006-2010, the same way it has been doing great under Robert until now.
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EPT
