Riot Games Is Investigating a Top Esports Team Founder Over Bullying Allegations

Andy “Reginald” Dinh, the founder and CEO of TSM, has been accused of verbal abuse and bullying by employees and esports pros.
Andy Dinh Founder Team SoloMid during day two of RISE 2019 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition
 Andy Dinh, the founder of TSM, at a conference in 2019.Photograph: David Fitzgerald/Getty Images

One of the esports industry’s most prominent leaders is under investigation for workplace misconduct. Current and former employees and esports pros have accused Team SoloMid’s founder and CEO, Andy Dinh, of verbally abusing and bullying them, sources tell WIRED. Riot Games, which operates the League of Legends Championship Series in which TSM competes, launched an investigation late last year into Dinh’s behavior. TSM also confirmed that it launched its own investigation around the same time.

“We are aware of the allegations made about the CEO/owner of TSM,” Riot Games told WIRED over email. “As the league operator, we have engaged the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP to conduct an independent investigation into claims of misconduct made against the leader of this team, in accordance with standard league process.” Both Riot and Dinh declined to comment on specific allegations, citing the ongoing investigative process.

Dinh, 29, has led the esports organization since 2009 and is known in the esports community by his gaming handle “Reginald.” In 2020, Forbes named TSM the most valuable esports company, with an estimated $410 million valuation. Last year, the organization changed its official name to TSM FTX after cutting a $210 million naming rights deal with a Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange. TSM operates esports teams and has contracts with players and streamers spanning Fortnite, Valorant, Apex Legends, Super Smash Bros., and other top games, amounting to millions of followers across social media. Most of all, TSM has become synonymous with competitive League of Legends, the biggest esports title of all time, attracting a fervent international fandom.

The company, based in Southern California, has 51 full-time employees. Several of those employees told WIRED that they were attracted to TSM because of its high status in the esports world and their personal fandom. Many became disenchanted by Dinh’s alleged “mental abuse,” in one current employee’s words. All requested anonymity for fear of career repercussions in the insular and tight-knit world of esports. “The esports industry is really young and toxic,” says one. “Your relationships result in jobs more than anything else.” Two sources say Dinh’s close connections to other esports team owners and professionals has deterred current and former employees or players from pursuing accountability.

“He’s like a bully who gets away with being a bad person because he’s powerful, because people are afraid to stand up to him,” top League of Legends player and former TSM teammate Yiliang “Peter” Peng, known as Doublelift, said publicly on a livestream last November. “I’m sick of someone who’s basically just a bully getting away with it because it’s in everyone’s best interest to not get in his way.”

Four individuals who have worked with TSM tell WIRED that the esports organization is dominated by a culture of fear. As far back as 2013, they say, Dinh was known to verbally abuse and yell at players and employees. He has called employees “stupid” or “worthless,” two sources say. Two sources recalled Dinh calling employees after hours to scream at them. Three current or former TSM employees say that, sometimes, Dinh would ridicule employees for hours. His tirades were often prompted by minor mistakes. Other times, he yelled at employees in front of assembled colleagues as part of an “exhibition,” says one current employee, that Dinh appeared to take pride in. One former employee recalled hearing Dinh say he wanted to “make an example” out of a person he berated publicly.

“A normal boss who thought you were doing a bad job would give you feedback. [At TSM], it was like, ‘This is trash’ or ‘You're awful,’” says one current employee. The employee estimates that there was a time when Dinh made somebody cry at least every other week.

Current and former employees say that Dinh’s management style contributed to attrition and stunted careers. Some employees were held back or held themselves back from pursuing promotions because they feared becoming Dinh’s direct reports, three sources say. “It's hard to really see a long-term future at TSM, because that's what you have to look forward to,” says one current employee. “Long-term employees understand that eventually there will come a time when Andy wants to fire them and it'll be about something really small.”

Over email, Dinh tells WIRED that he has “exceedingly high expectations for myself, and I share those same high expectations with everyone I work with. I have zero tolerance for underperformance. I am intense, passionate, driven, and relentless in the pursuit of winning- it’s my nature. I set an extremely high bar, and when I feel that someone is not delivering, I directly and bluntly share that feedback.” He added however that, when he looks back, “my vocabulary was at times too harsh and ineffective.”

“I know I need to work on my delivery,” Dinh says, “and I am working to improve the way I communicate with my team and those around me. I support and am fully cooperating with the independent investigations that are already underway and will gladly embrace any recommendations from the investigators.” Dinh did not comment when asked about specific actions he was taking to improve his communications or other behavior.

His behavior has extended to the esports pros he works with, too, three sources say. On YouTube, there are several videos of Dinh arguing with or yelling at players. In one, League of Legends player Marcus “Dyrus” Hill is livestreaming himself gaming. Dinh calls him a “little bitch” and a “fucking brat.” After losses, even within the past few years, says one esports pro, “He would go on tirades … I’ve seen him destroy people’s confidence in front of me and the team way too many times.” One former TSM employee says that Dinh made several players cry. (In March, 2021, Riot Games fined Dinh $5,000 for writing a tweet to Philippe “Vulcan” Leflamme, on competing team Cloud9, that the company considered in poor taste. Dinh had accused Leflamme of writing an “ignorant tweet” about a League Championship Series protocol. Dinh apologized publicly, saying he “went overboard with my comments towards Vulcan.”)

Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere interviews Marcus "Dyrus" Hill of Team SoloMid

Photograph: Riot Games/Getty Images

TSM and Riot Games’ investigations kicked off after Peng made his public accusations in November 2021, sources tell WIRED. Peng is among the most celebrated League of Legends players of all time, competing on TSM’s League of Legends team on and off between 2015 and 2021. Early November 2021, as Peng was transitioning out of TSM, he shared his disdain for Dinh on a Twitch livestream. “Honestly, I fucking hate TSM, mostly because of Andy,” he said. Peng accused Dinh of poorly handling fellow player Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh’s transition to TSM. Dinh responded on Reddit, saying of Peng, “Although he is a strong player and leader inside the game, he is really challenging to work with.” Two sources tell WIRED that, during the controversy, Dinh asked industry peers to vouch for him publicly on Twitter and make positive statements about him and his work.

In response, Peng later tweeted that Dinh “harassed and abused people at TSM. . . so many people experienced public humiliation, mental breakdowns, crying at work, and still people will play it off in whatever way they can. People in power can get away with anything it seems.”

The North American Players Association has spoken with over a dozen people who say they witnessed or experienced Dinh's allegedly abusive behavior, and passed many names onto Riot Games, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Riot does not directly employ Dinh, but as the operator of the League of Legends Championship Series, the game company has options to act depending on the investigation’s outcome. In 2019, Riot Games set precedent for this giving Echo Fox an ultimatum for continuing in the league after Echo Fox founder and former NBA player Rick Fox accused a shareholder of racism. Echo Fox ended up selling their slot.

A TSM spokesperson says the organization launched its own investigation last year, too, after public allegations against Dinh. TSM immediately created an “independent subcommittee” and enlisted outside legal counsel and an independent investigator, the spokesperson said. She added that the investigation has “Andy’s full support” and notes that Dinh recused himself from “any oversight of the scope, nature, and conclusions of the investigation.” TSM expects to announce the findings later this month: “After our independent investigation had already begun, Riot contacted us and requested our cooperation in their own independent investigation regarding the complaints related to League of Legends players. Andy and TSM leadership have been in touch with Riot and we are fully cooperating with them as well.”

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