Along with the other founders of the monetization business, Tomer Bar-Zeev, the president of Unity Grow and CEO of IronSource, is leaving the engine developer. After Unity and IronSource combined in 2022, the Israeli firm was allegedly valued at $4.4 billion. However, due to ongoing layoffs, some IronSource co-founders, including Bar-Zeev, have decided to leave the company.
As stated in an SEC filing, Bar-Zeev will stand down from his position as president of Unity Grow, which he assumed after the merger, with immediate effect. However, he will continue to serve as a non-executive employee for a period of six months to help with the transition.
The Israeli founders of ironSource have announced their decision to depart the San Francisco-based firm, one day after another round of layoffs at Unity and fourteen months after the company’s merger with the supplier of videogame software. A sizable contingent of ironSource’s founders, led by CEO Tomer Bar Zeev, are among those departing from the company. Arnon Harish, Eyal Milrad, Omer Kaplan, and Tamir Carmi are leaving with him.
From $11.1 Billion IPO to Unity Merger and Massive Layoffs in 2023
The ironSource management team led the company through its $11.1 billion IPO in 2021 following its merger with a SPAC. Shareholders of ironSource sold $1.5 billion worth of shares as part of the IPO. IronSource’s shares, however, fell sharply below its IPO price due to the market collapse, and in November 2022 it merged with the United States business Unity for a valuation of $4.4 billion. Following the completion of the acquisition, Unity started a large-scale downsizing effort in January 2023. Unity let go of 1,800 workers on Tuesday as part of yet another wave of layoffs, which included Israeli employees of ironSource.
IronSource’s senior staff is gone due to unity layoffs
Unity stated earlier this week that it will be cutting off some 1,800 employees in order to achieve “long-term and profitable growth.” The most recent layoffs, which come after a series of employment reductions in 2023, will affect almost 25% of the company’s present workers. Unity promised to help staff members during the process and stated that the decision to approve more layoffs was not made lightly in a statement that was delivered to Game Developer soon after the news surfaced.
Unity stated that they have made a painful choice to conduct a staff reduction, targeting around 25 percent of our entire workforce across all teams, as part of our corporate reset detailed in our Shareholder Letter on November 9, 2023. Unity stated, “This choice was not made lightly, and we sincerely thank everyone who was impacted for their commitment and efforts.
“We are dedicated to helping affected staff members get through this difficult change. As we work together to manage these changes, we are grateful for the community’s and stakeholders’ understanding and support.”
