From CS Clan to Global Empire: Ninjas in Pyjamas CEO Reflects on Organization's 25-Year Journey

As Ninjas in Pyjamas celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025, the Swedish esports organization has evolved far beyond its origins as a Counter-Strike clan founded in June 2000. Under the leadership of CEO Hicham Chahine, what began as a financially struggling esports team has transformed into NIP Group, a publicly traded digital entertainment conglomerate generating over $100 million in revenue and operating across multiple continents. The journey from near-bankruptcy to becoming the world's largest esports organization reflects both Chahine's unconventional path from high finance to gaming entertainment and his strategic vision for diversification in an industry known for its volatility.

*The following interview has been lightly edited for readability. 

From Wall Street to Esports

Hicham Chahine's arrival at Ninjas in Pyjamas was never meant to be permanent. At 36 years old, Chahine brings an unusual background to esports leadership, having started his career in finance at the remarkably young age of 18.

"I started my career very early though. So when I was 18, I was headhunted to work at one of the world's largest investment companies. I spent nine years there and towards the end I was managing one of the largest hedge funds in the world" - Hicham

The connection between him and NIP began in 2014 when a company he founded sponsored the organization. When NIP encountered financial difficulties, Chahine initially viewed his investment as a short-term rescue mission.

"So when NIP ran into financial troubles, I decided to invest into it, but I was still in my finance job. So when I started getting tired and felt it was need for a sabbatical, NIP still had financial issues. So I decided, well, let's take six months, let's jump in, clean it up, give it to someone else and let someone else run with it"

That six-month sabbatical has now extended to nine years, during which he has fundamentally transformed not just NIP but the broader conception of what an esports organization can become.

"And nine years later, the sabbatical is still ongoing. We've taken what was once a Counter-Strike team to be 19 teams in 16 different games and built the largest esports team in the world, but also one of the largest leading gaming entertainment companies in the world".

Building an Empire through Disciplined Growth

The transformation of Ninjas in Pyjamas under Hicham's leadership stands in stark contrast to the typical esports organization trajectory of the mid-2010s. While venture capital flooded the industry between 2016 and 2018, leading many organizations to pursue unsustainable growth models, Chahine maintained a disciplined approach rooted in his financial background.

"Even when esports boomed and exploded during the 16, 17, 18, with a lot of VC money flowing in, we remained with a realistic view on esports, the size of it, the revenue monetization possibilities, and we didn't allow ourselves to get carried away"

This conservative approach proved fundamental as many heavily funded esports organizations later struggled with profitability. According to his interview for Forbes, Chahine's financial discipline was evident from the beginning, as the reality of NIP's situation in 2016 was far worse than publicly known.

"It was significantly worse than what we let people know. [Things were pretty bad on] accounting, auditing, tax filings. [And uncertainty about] how much tax liability, how much the players were actually owed".

The financial turnaround was remarkable:

"From 2016 to 2023, NIP was a very profitable entity in the midst of that boom and all the unprofitability you saw"

The Diversification Strategy

Central to Chahine's vision for NIP has been diversification across multiple verticals, driven by his finance background and understanding of risk management.

"I come from finance and I think about it a little bit, a keyword has always been for me diversification"

However, Chahine recognized that diversification within esports alone had limitations.

"We are literally in every single game we want to be in. We are capped out. How do you continue growing the business? So we wanted to continue diversifying" .

The diversification strategy encompasses multiple business verticals. NIP Group now operates a talent management agency with 36,000 content creators, influencers, and live streamers. The company has expanded into event production, moving beyond producing games in their own arenas for League of Legends and Kings of Honor to handling music concerts and festivals for external clients. Physical expansion includes esports and gaming hotels, addressing what Chahine saw as the decline of internet cafes.

Most recently, the company has entered game publishing, a natural evolution from promoting other publishers' games. In September 2024, NIP Group announced the establishment of a dedicated game publishing division, focusing on esports-oriented titles as well as mini-games for social media platforms, mobile games, and PC games.

This diversified approach has fundamentally changed NIP's business model, with a structure that provides stability that pure esports organizations lack.

"If you look at the company as a whole, esports is only 20% of our revenue, and Counter-Strike is probably less than half of that. If esports isn't performing, we have a multitude of diversified verticals, which carries the business. If they're not performing, esports is performing. It brings you stability in the business to have the capacity to think about what's the next 25 years".

Global Expansion and Strategic Partnerships

The transformation of NIP into a global entertainment conglomerate accelerated significantly with the merger with Chinese digital sports group ESV5 in 2023, creating NIP Group. The merger brought together NIP's Western operations with ESV5's strong position in the Chinese market, including ownership of esports teams eStar Gaming and Victory Five, the latter of which was rebranded to Ninjas in Pyjamas for the League of Legends Pro League.

Mario Ho, son of late Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho, became Chairman and co-CEO alongside Chahine through the merger. The partnership has opened significant opportunities in the Chinese market, including plans for over 100 esports hotels within three years.

The global reach of NIP Group was further enhanced by a landmark partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office announced in January 2025. The five-year agreement provides up to $40 million in financial and non-financial support over four years, with NIP Group establishing its global headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The company's strategic partnerships also extend across major global brands, with long-standing relationships with Red Bull, Rainbet, Fila, BYD and others.

The Counter-Strike Renaissance and Fan Engagement

While NIP Group's business success has been built on diversification away from pure esports competition, the resurgence of the Counter-Strike team has provided significant momentum.

"From our Counter-Strike momentum, we feel it a lot internally, the back to winning again, climbing the ranks and so on. You feel it a lot internally and particularly on the mood of people, the momentum you have internally"

The emotional impact of competitive success extends throughout the organization despite esports representing only 20% of revenue.

"A lot of them are Counter-Strike people at the core, right? Even though we built this massive company doing all these other things, it's Counter-Strike we come from".

The connection to the organization's roots remains strong, with NIP's history dating back to the legendary roster of f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, Xizt, friberg, and Fifflaren, who set an unbroken record of 87 consecutive LAN map wins between 2012 and 2013.

Innovation in fan engagement has become another key differentiator for NIP Group. The launch of "The Dojo," a blockchain-powered fan loyalty platform developed with partners Zilliqa and XBorg, represents a significant investment in Web3 technology.

"Our fanbase keeps growing. With the addition of new titles, it's much more diverse than it was just a few years ago. We've been looking at how we could bring our loyal Ninjas together in a fun and immersive way, but still flexible enough to keep up with the evolving pace of esports" 

The fan engagement strategy evolved further with a partnership with Socios.com in May 2025, integrating additional blockchain-powered tools into The Dojo platform. This culminated in the launch of the $DOJO Fan Token in June 2025, marking the first Fan Token Offering in over a year.

"The Dojo has always been about giving back to our fans: their loyalty deserves to be celebrated and rewarded. We're excited to offer our Ninjas new, tangible ways to interact with the team and be rewarded for their unwavering support".

Public Markets and Financial Milestones

The culmination of NIP Group's transformation came with its initial public offering on NASDAQ in July 2024, making it the first Chinese esports company to list on the American exchange. Trading under the ticker 'NIPG', the company raised over $20 million through the offering of 2.25 million American depositary shares at $9 each.

The public listing came at a time when several esports organizations had struggled in public markets, with FaZe Clan ultimately being acquired after poor stock performance and Astralis choosing delisting. However, NIP Group's diversified business model and proven profitability differentiated it from pure-play esports organizations that had previously struggled to demonstrate sustainable economics.

The financial transformation has been remarkable by any measure. According to Forbes, Chahine has grown the organization from near-bankruptcy to over $100 million in annual revenue. This growth has been achieved while maintaining profitability, a rarity in the esports industry where many organizations have prioritized growth over financial sustainability.

Future Vision and Emerging Technologies

Looking ahead to the next 25 years, Chahine maintains that competitive esports will remain central to NIP Group's identity despite representing a minority of revenue. However, he also expects continued evolution in how the company supports and enhances that core mission.

"For us, esports is always going to remain where we come from and what we care about, and winning and entertaining fans is the most important thing. So expect that not to change over the 25 years, right? But expect us to have more resources and capabilities to facilitate that. So esports will remain a core pillar of the company, even though it's not the biggest revenue driver for us"

The company is actively exploring emerging technologies that could reshape the gaming and entertainment landscape.

"We have also taken notice of what's happening in the blockchain space. We have launched our fan loyalty platform. We just announced two partnerships in that regard. So we're looking very active at the blockchain and crypto space. And also AI is a huge thing which is going to benefit the games industry once it starts maturing. So we are also obviously on top of that trend and looking at what we do in that space"

Legacy and Industry Impact

As Ninjas in Pyjamas marks its 25th anniversary, Chahine's perspective on the organization's journey reflects both pride in achievements and ambitious vision for the future

"I would say I've been part of the journey where esports went from a subculture living under the surface to taking it above the surface. I think that for where we are and what we see, even though esports and games feels big, it's not even close to the potential that we can realize".

The transformation of Ninjas in Pyjamas under Chahine's leadership represents more than just a business success story. It demonstrates how strategic thinking, financial discipline, and willingness to diversify can create sustainable growth in an industry often characterized by boom-and-bust cycles. From a struggling Counter-Strike team to a diversified global entertainment conglomerate, NIP Group's evolution provides a template for how esports organizations can build lasting value while maintaining connection to their competitive roots.

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Feature image credits: Ninjas in Pyjamas

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