In 59 seconds, a CEO destroyed his PC company. Now, the hardware he wanted to give away in a promotion is being auctioned off. Thus ends the infamous story behind the company “Artesian Builds.”
The company “Artesian Builds” was still one of the major showcase companies a year ago when it came to having a gaming PC. Many sponsors and streamers supported the company. But that changed radically in March 2022.
Now, the remaining parts of the company are being sold. But what actually happened that it came to this?
CEO of a PC company behaves poorly towards a streamer
What kind of company is this? The CEO of “Artesian Builds,” Noah Katz, was giving away a gaming PC live on Twitch that a small Twitch streamer won. But Katz thought the winner was too insignificant and hadn’t generated sales as a brand ambassador, so he excluded her.
However, the whole action backfired on “Artesian Builds”: The streamer was outraged on her social media channels. As a result, an avalanche of anger fell upon the company. A classic shitstorm.
Eventually, “Artesian Builds” ceased operations on March 9 and wanted to start anew.
The employees also considered whether they should buy and continue the company themselves. Because the big villain was quickly identified as CEO Noah Katz. But that is unlikely to happen now.
These are the consequential seconds on Twitch:
PC company’s hardware being auctioned off to pay debts
What exactly happened? As announced in a tweet, Artesian Builds will auction off the rest of its inventory to pay off its debts. The auction is set to begin on June 21, 2022.
The tweet lists the official court filing and a link to a Dropbox folder with official documents. Here, one can also see exactly what is being auctioned off (via pcgamer.com):
- A total of hundreds of components are being auctioned off, including graphics cards, coolers, processors, and computer cases. Even unfinished computers are among the auction items.
- In addition, the websites, addresses, and especially the brand “Artesian Builds” are being auctioned off.
The gaming systems that were originally intended to be given away in that stream will also be auctioned off.
Who could buy the items? The well-known Twitch streamer Trainwreck had contacted Twitter after the crisis began and said he wanted to take over the company and run it “properly.”
Whether that was merely a loose claim or indeed taken seriously, we cannot say. Should Trainwreck actually buy the company, he would at least surely have enough money available:
Twitch streamer wins 12.7 million euros in a spin – Warns viewers: “Don’t ruin your life”
