Jaime Pádua, cofounder of the Brazilian organization, has announced the end of his tenure as an executive at FURIA. He will remain a shareholder, and André Akkari becomes sole CEO.
It was through a long message published on his social media that Jaime Pádua put an end to the speculation: after nine years at the helm, he is stepping down from his executive duties at FURIA. The executive stresses that the decision was voluntary, taken — in his words — "calmly and at the right time" and specifies that he is keeping his stake in the organization.
From an apartment in Uberlândia to a global brand
Back in 2017, Brazilian esports had little structure and a still-immature market. Pádua and his partners rented an apartment in Uberlândia, moved the organization's first Counter-Strike roster in, and entered their first tournaments. "Many said it wouldn't work" he writes today.
Nine years later, according to Pádua, FURIA is the highest-earning organization in the history of Latin America, with nearly $7 million in tournament winnings. He also points to the viewership record recently set by his CS2 team, with almost 2.75 million concurrent viewers — which would make it, in his view, the most-watched match in the discipline's history. The organization now fields teams across more than ten titles.
My dream was never to be irreplaceable
The cofounder highlights the human impact of the journey: players who were able to give their parents a first home or a first car, careers built from nothing. That, he says, is the legacy he is proudest of.
