Last May, the merger between FaZe Clan and the acquiring company B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp was threatened by the last exercise report of the structure which showed risks of bankruptcy. However, the structure entered at the Nasdaq stock exchange to become one of the few publicly traded esports companies.
Still, the company’s value is a far cry from that estimated at the time of the merger, when FaZe agreed last October to merge with BRPM, it was valued at nearly a billion dollars. Nowadays, this value is closer to $716 million.
This figure is based on 72.5 million shares outstanding at $9.88, as reported by the media Bloomberg. Although he is followed by more than 500 million people around the world on social networks and has a list of 93 gaming influencers (including only one woman), the company is gradually losing value. For Daniel Shribmanchief investment officer of B. Riley, FaZe is “a brand that speaks to today’s youth culture as Nike spoke to that of yesterday.“.
“We have been preparing to become a public company for more than a year […] In the period we announced our merger, we put together an incredible management team and a world-class Board of Directors to oversee the company. FaZe Clan has a professional management team and a public company board to run the business, but as a brand at the forefront of youth culture, it’s essential to include the perspectives of Gen Z and people who have an innate knowledge of the internet community and brand.” – Lee Trink, CEO of FaZe Clan
However, FaZe Clan seems subscribed to controversies of all kinds. Among the most recent are a cryptocurrency scam, or the banishment of a member for a abusive and racist language. A former employee describes the company as a “shit-show” of inexperienced young people making the decisions.