100 Thieves executives didn’t know Bjergsen was going to retire from League of Legends until around an hour before the announcement on April 7.
In an episode of the 100 Thieves podcast on April 12, 100T CEO Nadeshot revealed he received information about Bjergsen’s retirement an hour before the video was released on social media.
“We were at the golf course when I got the text… Jacob, our head of esports saying ‘Bjergsen just informed us that he’s retiring, and he’s going to release a statement within the next hour,” Nadeshot said.
Nadeshot explained he understood Bjergsen’s approach and why he kept it a secret—if 100T knew about the announcement, they would have started looking for a mid laner, and the news would have probably leaked one way or another. He also underlined he respects the Danish ex-mid laner and thinks a legend of his caliber has the right to retire the way he sees fit.
“He knew what he was doing. But I totally get it, because he didn’t want it to leak,” Nadeshot said.
On the other hand, the founder of 100T admitted the way it was handled left the organization in a tough spot, forcing it to “pick up the pieces,” and he would’ve done it differently. “I don’t think anybody did anything wrong, but in a certain circumstance hypothetical I really wish he would’ve told us earlier.”
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This fragment of the podcast quickly gained steam on social media, but it was taken out of context, leading to Nadeshot clarifying the situation on Twitter yesterday. The CEO echoed what he said on the podcast, underlining he holds no resentment towards Bjergsen, and understands why he retired in this manner. But he pointed out 100T was affected.
This prompted a reaction from Bjergsen, who admitted he “could have handled it differently while still likely not having it leak. I’m sorry about that.”