Jens Hilgers, co-founder and long-standing CEO of Turtle Entertainment GmbH, moves to Chairman of the Board
Cologne, 25th January 2010 – After ten years as CEO of Turtle Entertainment GmbH, on 1st February 2010 Jens Hilgers will be transferring to a new role as Chairman of the Board. The co-founder is retiring from daily business operations, allowing him to become more heavily involved in defining the company's strategic direction. As Chairman of the Board Jens Hilgers will mainly be responsible for the business areas International Expansion, Business Development and Investor Relations. In future, Ralf Reichert will be the company's sole CEO. Ralf Reichert was appointed second managing director of Turtle Entertainment GmbH eight years ago; since then, he and Jens Hilgers have been jointly managing the company.
Jens Hilgers is a founder and partner in Turtle Entertainment GmbH; launched in 2000, the company today leads the European market in electronic sports (eSports). Under the management of Hilgers and Reichert, recent years saw the company create the world's most successful eSports league, the Electronic Sports League (ESL). Today, ESL operates in 37 countries around the world and has over 2.3 million members, an expansion Hilgers was instrumental in driving. In addition to his role as CEO of Turtle Entertainment, as Vice President Gaming Communities he was most recently also responsible for the business areas of Community Management, Information Technology, Product Design and Development.
"When we decided to found Turtle Entertainment ten years ago, we had a clear objective: we wanted to develop a real sport involving computer games and become the world's leading company in the 'competitive computer gaming' segment, also known as 'eSports'", says Jens Hilgers (34), recalling the founding of Turtle Entertainment in 2000. "Ten years later we have achieved this aim – the eSports leagues under the umbrella of ESL are today the world's most renowned. After these successful and exciting years in operative business I feel the time has come for me to make a change; I am therefore transferring to the Chairman of the Board, a move that will give me more space to concentrate fully on our corporate strategy in the future. With my partner Ralf, the company's management remains in excellent hands, so we are well on course for a successful Turtle year 2010!"
