Rick Fox leaves the organization Esports because of racist comments by shareholder

The retired NBA star turned entrepreneur esports Rick Fox is about to cut ties with Echo Fox, the organization of competitive games he helped found, after another shareholder would have used racial insults during e-mail exchange, says Richard Lewis report Dexerto.

According to Lewis, the racist remarks were made by an investor at Vision Venture Partners, the private equity firm owned by Echo Fox and of which Rick Fox is one of the founding partners. The member would have used this keyword to refer to Jace Hall, former CEO of Echo Fox and current director of the Twin Galaxies esports website (which VVP also owns), in a dispute-related e-mail exchange internal commercial.

According to sources with which Lewis spoke, the same shareholder Echo Fox had used offensive language against Hall and Fox. Lewis did not provide the name of the investor in question.

Asked about the report, a spokesman for Echo Fox provided Kotaku with the following statement (underlined in the original):

"There have been incidents in recent weeks during which a limited number partner from the Echo Fox organization, who is not an employee, officer or director of Echo Fox, used a racial epithet to individuals verbally and by email. One of these incidents has been detailed in the media today. And while this incident is not directed against an employee, officer, member or shareholder of Echo Fox, the racial intolerance related to Echo Fox is totally unacceptable. There have been other incidents where the shareholder in question personally used this same vile language against Rick Fox. These incidents are particularly significant for us as Echo Fox has an unprecedented level of diversity in its core ownership group, leadership, leadership and player base. After being informed of these incidents, the Company has made various requests to the wrongdoer, including the separation of the investor from the company, and we continue our efforts to achieve this objective. "

Neither Rick Fox, Jace Hall nor Vision Venture Partners responded immediately to a request for comment.

Fox announced the reasons for his departure in an April 19 e-mail purportedly sent to other Echo Fox stakeholders that Lewis had obtained. "This is an official notification of my intention to leave the Echo Fox organization as a shareholder and participant as soon as I will be able to facilitate a transaction," Fox writes. "The recent scandalous and heinous demonstration of pure racism by a major shareholder in Echo Fox, as well as threats to my family, have prevented me from remaining associated with the company.

"I will not support or be associated with such behaviors and attitudes displayed at the shareholder level. Racism is anathema to the goals of my personal brand and it is unacceptable to tolerate any form of discrimination of this kind. "

Echo Fox was created in late 2015 after Rick Fox, a former Los Angeles Lakers striker, bought the Gravity Gaming spot in the League of Legends Champion Series for $ 1 million. The organization has since expanded to other games, including World strike offensive and Super Smash Bros. and now has some of the most popular faces of the esport, like Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, who represents the fighting games.

"I respect my boss so much if it is," McLean tweeted today about Fox leaving the organization. "He was a great source of inspiration for me and he chose to leave, I hope he will stay at Esports because his passion and support are limitless."

In February 2018, Vision Venture Partners raised $ 38 million in funding with the support of other professional athletes such as Kevin Durant and Odell Beckham Jr., as well as other private equity firms. It is unclear whether Fox's plan to break with Echo Fox means he will also leave VVP.