Ocelote Steps Down as G2 Esports CEO

Carlos "Ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago has stepped down as CEO of G2 Esports, Rodríguez Santiago announced in a Twitter video later confirmed by an organization statement.

Ocelote, a former League of Legends professional player drew criticism online after he uploaded a video on Sept. 17 celebrating a G2 Esports championship with Andrew and Tristan Tate. G2 Esports announced the following day that Ocelote and the supervisory board agreed on an eight week leave as CEO plus a suspension of earnings during that time.

The former CEO also issued a statement following the organization's first decision saying, "I failed to read this room right, feel terrible about the discussions it created and will stand up and accept the consequences in full."

On Sept. 23, both G2 and Ocelote announced the latter's decision to step down as CEO.

"It's been a tough week for us all following the events of last weekend. Today we received, and accepted, Carlos' announcement to step down as CEO of G2 Esports," the organization said in its statement.

Ocelote posted a video announced that he would be stepping down. "My time in G2 has come to an end which means I will be stepping down from my CEO position."

"I take full responsibility over everything that went on in the last few days. And again, trust me when I say I just feel fucking destroyed about it."

Ocelote, as he stated in his video, bootstrapped G2 Esports with the earnings he made as a professional player. Today, G2 Esports runs professional esports teams in Apex Legends, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Valorant, Halo Infinite and more. The organization is partnered with names such as BMW, Red Bull, Adidas and Mastercard.

G2 Esports was previously in contention for a Valorant partnership spot in the upcoming 2023 VCT season, but a report from The Washington Post’s Mikhail Klimentov stated Riot Games held an emergency meeting following Ocelote's actions on Sept. 17 which led to the organization being denied a spot.