Former eBay and Hewlett Packard executive Meg Whitman is taking a chance on esports.
Whitman is investing in Los Angeles-based Immortals, the North American esports organization with teams in Overwatch, Vaingloy, Arena of Valor, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Whitman announced her involvement with Immortals in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. She’ll join the oganization’s board, according to WSJ.
Related: Overwatch League on TV is a “landmark” event for esports, Immortals president says
Immortals CEO Noah Whinston confirmed her investment on Twitter. “Thrilled to welcome Meg Whitman to the Immortals Board of Directors,” he wrote.
Details of her investment were not disclosed, but WSJ sources values Immortals at “more than $100 million” after Whitman’s addition.
Major investments are not new for Immortals. The company has secured multiple high-profile partnerships, including Lionsgate, Mountain Dew, K-Swiss, and entertainment company AEG.
Immortals’ Overwatch League franchise, Los Angeles Valiant, finished in the top four of the first season of the league. In Counter-Strike, Immortals competes under the name MIBR. That majority-Brazilian lineup will be competing at the FACEIT London Major in September.
“I’ve always been very interested in what [Whitman] did at eBay, which was to take a much more niche community-oriented site and turn it into something mainstream,” Whiston told WSJ. Whitman spoke highly of esports to WSJ, noting that annual revenue for esports is more than $800 million—double the revenue from 2014. She cited esports’ global audience at 400 million viewers.
Whitman was named CEO of mobile content company WndrCo LLC in January 2018, taking up that position after leaving her role with Hewlett Packard in February.
