In League of Legends, Andy “Reginald ” Dinh is actually a crazy success story. The 30-year-old is considered the mastermind behind the success of the biggest US team in LoL, ‘Team SoloMid’ – but this image is now completely destroyed. An insider report from the Washington Post paints a terrible picture of the workplace at ‘Team SoloMid’ and its CEO. He is said to fire people who ask him uncomfortable questions.
Who is it about?
- Andy Dinh is the founder and boss of ‘Team SoloMid’, which is the most successful, and somehow also the coolest team in the USA in League of Legends. They also have the most money. Over the years, superstars of esports like Bjergsen, Dyrus, or Doublelift played for TSM. Just in June 2021, Reginald secured a mega deal with a crypto exchange worth $210 million for the team.
- TSM has always been a crazy success story: The ‘gaming culture’ was internalized there, deeply rooted in gaming, shaping the entire culture with memes and a decidedly cool appearance. TSM was ‘the team that understood gaming’ and the success proved it right.
- But for the past few months, the spirit at Team SoloMid has been warped: Many familiar faces have left the team, things are not going well in LoL, Riot opened an investigation against the boss, Andy Dinh, in January 2022, and now a really terrible report is emerging.
Insider report speaks of a “culture of terror” and toxic workplace
Where did the report get its sources? The Washington Post says they spoke with employees from TSM and Blitz, another company of Reginald. However, most employees want to remain anonymous because they fear retaliation from Dinh (via washingtonpost).
What are the accusations against Dinh? Dinh is said to have been moody and unpredictable. Those who opposed him were often fired within a few days. People were literally afraid to bring him bad news because he would get angry and berate people in front of others or even fire them, the Post’s report states.
An employee is fired for asking 2 questions that Reginald did not like
The Washington Post tells a story from March 2021. At that time, after the allegations against Dinh, a new employee for the HR department was hired, who seemed to truly want to make a difference and care about the employees’ concerns.
But just a few weeks after his hiring, he was already fired by Dinh. An employee says that during a meeting, Dinh explained why the person was fired:
Andy told the whole company that the person was fired because they asked a question he didn’t like. I think he then realized how stupid that sounded, so he added: Well, he asked two questions that I didn’t like. After that, no one had any more questions.
It is said that Dinh has created a culture of “fear” and “terror”.
It was almost absurd how many vice-presidents he had fired, often without any apparent reason. This led to projects constantly being derailed.
The showcase team in German LoL apparently has a completely different work culture:
At first it was great to work in esports – then came the burnout
What else is he accused of? At Team SoloMid, there is also said to be a horrible culture of only employing people as contractors, thus placing them at a disadvantage compared to permanent employees, although this is against California laws, which make this practice extremely difficult.
However, one of the sources says: Well, permanent employees could also be fired at the snap of a finger. So permanent employees did not have much security either.
An employee says he initially found it really exciting to work in esports. But that quickly faded:
At first, it was exciting when I was young and happy to work in esports. But the longer it went on, the more I felt the burnout and that I was getting more and more exhausted.
At some point, he then asked his boss if he wouldn’t get a permanent position, but he told him to go ahead and look for his luck on the open market. Sure, someone would find who could do his job for the money.
Reginald says: He is just passionate, driven, intense
What does Dinh say? Reginald himself says in a statement to the Washington Post:
I have extremely high expectations of myself and I share these high expectations with everyone I work with. I have zero tolerance for poor performance. I am intense, passionate, driven, and relentless in my passion to win – that is my nature. I set extremely high standards and when I feel someone is not meeting them, I am direct and clear with my feedback.
I admit: Looking back, my choice of words was too harsh and ineffective. I know I need to work on my communication, and I am working on how I talk to my team and my surroundings. I fully support the independent investigations that are already underway, and I will gladly follow any recommendations from the investigators.
What is behind this: This discussion has been going on for a while. It came up in November 2021 when Twitch streamer Doublelift made strong criticisms of Reginald and portrayed him as a ‘bully’ that no one wants to confront.
Doublelift was subsequently – of course – fired by TSM.
It is interesting that the system apparently functioned reasonably well for over 13 years before it is now falling apart in 2022. Because it has long been known how difficult Dinh probably is to deal with. There are videos of him tearing apart professional players from his own team on camera (via youtube).
When things were ‘going well’, it was said: Dinh is just like that. He doesn’t mean it badly; he is just extremely ambitious and a gamer, bringing out the best in everyone. The videos cast a poor light, actually, everyone is good friends.
But in recent months, that seems to have completely flipped: practically all important people and key players have left TSM. Apparently, the ‘Reginald’ system has collapsed.
After the accusations from Doublelift and the current report, it is hard to see how this can continue.
The most powerful man in US LoL is said to be a real jerk who tears players apart
