Andy Dinh
{{Short description|American entrepreneur and former esports player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Andy Dinh
| image = Andy "Reginald" Dinh (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Dinh in 2019
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1992|04|19}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| title = CEO of Team SoloMid
| spouse =
| relatives = Dan Dinh (brother)
| module = {{Infobox video game player|embed=yes
| career_games = League of Legends
| career_role = Mid
| career_start = 2009
| career_end = 2013
| years1 = 2009{{ndash}}2011
| team1 = All or Nothing
| years2 = 2011{{ndash}}2013
| team2 = Team SoloMid
}}
}}
Andy Dinh (born April 19, 1992), better known as Reginald, is an American entrepreneur and former professional League of Legends player. He is the founder, owner, and CEO of Team SoloMid (TSM), an esports organization most well known for its League of Legends team in the League Championship Series (LCS).
As a former player, he was the first mid laner for TSM.
Professional gaming career
Dinh began playing League of Legends in the Closed Beta in 2008. Playing alongside his brother, Dan Dinh, he quickly became one of the most recognizable players in the game's sprouting player base. Andy and his brother then formed one of the earliest competitive League of Legends teams, team All or Nothing, during the League of Legends closed beta in September 2009.{{cite web|url=http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=17830 |title=Clan All or Nothing – League of Legends Community |publisher=Na.leagueoflegends.com |date=October 15, 2009 |access-date=November 26, 2012}} Around this time, he also founded the SoloMid website, one of the first websites dedicated to League of Legends, which also doubled as a website for his team. In early 2011, after disagreements between himself and Dan Dinh, All or Nothing disbanded and Andy "Reginald" Dinh went on to found Team SoloMid (TSM) as its mid lane and captain. At the Season 1 League of Legends World Championship in 2011, TSM took 3rd place and $10,000.{{cite web|url=http://season-one-championship.na.leagueoflegends.com |title=Season One Championship |publisher=Season-one-championship.na.leagueoflegends.com |access-date=November 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110044143/http://season-one-championship.na.leagueoflegends.com/ |archive-date=November 10, 2012 }} TSM made many appearances at several independent tournaments, including a second-place finish at Intel Extreme Masters Season VI and a first-place finish at Major League Gaming's Providence tournament.
Going into League of Legends Season 2, TSM suffered losses while facing the Russian-based team Moscow 5 at Intel Extreme Masters Hanover and Kyiv events. Following these defeats, notable founding member Christian "The Rain Man" Kahmann resigned from the team citing differences in interests and TSM subsequently picked up Marcus "Dyrus" Hill to fill the empty spot, as he was already living in the TSM house.{{cite web|url=http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/52875-Rain_Man_leaves_TSM_gaming_house |title=League of Legends: Rain Man leaves TSM gaming house |publisher=SK Gaming |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=November 26, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.solomid.net/forums/index.php?/topic/21787-team-solomid-announces-roster-change/ |title=Team SoloMid Announces Roster Change – SoloMid.NET Forums |publisher=Solomid.net |date=March 13, 2012 |access-date=November 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031092654/http://www.solomid.net/forums/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F21787-team-solomid-announces-roster-change%2F |archive-date=October 31, 2012 }} After these changes, Dinh and TSM went on to win several North American events during spring and summer. Following a 1st Place victory at the North American regionals, TSM became one of the teams playing at Riot Games's Season 2 World Championships in Los Angeles, where they were defeated 2–0 by Azubu Frost and placed 5th–8th with a prize of $75,000.{{cite web |url=http://tournaments.leagueoflegends.com/s2-world-championship#tournament-bracket |title=Season Two World Championship | LoL Tournaments |publisher=Tournaments.leagueoflegends.com |access-date=November 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427082322/http://tournaments.leagueoflegends.com/s2-world-championship#tournament-bracket |archive-date=April 27, 2014 |url-status=dead }} Two months later in December, they placed 9th–12th in the IGN Pro League Season 5 to win $1,500.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
Reginald retired from competition at the end of 2013. He made a brief appearance as TSM's mid laner in Week 7 of the 2014 NA LCS Spring Split due to Bjergsen returning to Denmark to renew his United States visa.{{cite web|url=http://www.ongamers.com/articles/reginald-to-sub-for-bjergsen-this-week/1100-957/|title=Reginald to sub for Bjergsen this week|first=William |last=Turton |website=onGamers|publisher=CBS Interactive|date=February 28, 2014|access-date=August 24, 2015}}
Accusations of workplace bullying
Several current and former employees and players of TSM have accused Dinh of workplace bullying, including verbal abuse. Riot Games and TSM both launched their own investigations into the accusations in late 2021. However, accusations had arisen as early as 2011.{{cite magazine |last1=D'Anastasio |first1=Cecilia |title=Riot Games Is Investigating a Top Esports Team Founder Over Bullying Allegations |url=https://www.wired.com/story/riot-games-investigating-esports-tsm-founder-over-bullying-allegations/ |access-date=January 11, 2022 |magazine=Wired |date=January 11, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Esguerra |first1=Tyler |title=Riot is reportedly investigating TSM CEO Reginald over alleged workplace misconduct, bullying |url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/riot-reportedly-investigating-tsm-ceo-reginald-alleged-workplace-misconduct-bullying |access-date=12 January 2022 |work=Dot Esports |date=11 January 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Kay |first1=Meg |title=Riot and TSM investigating org's CEO Reginald over bullying and abuse accusations |url=https://www.dexerto.com/esports/riot-and-tsm-investigating-orgs-ceo-reginald-over-bullying-and-abuse-accusations-1738170/ |access-date=12 January 2022 |work=Dexerto |date=11 January 2022 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Popko |first1=John |title=Riot Games investigates TSM owner Reginald over allegations of bullying |url=https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/16133/riot-games-investigates-tsm-reginald-over-allegations-of-bullying |access-date=12 January 2022 |work=InvenGlobal |date=11 January 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Klimentov |first=Mikhail |date=May 4, 2022 |title=At TSM and Blitz, staff describes toxic workplace and volatile CEO |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/05/04/tsm-andy-dinh-misclassification/ |access-date=May 5, 2022}}
Following the investigation, Riot Games found Dinh guilty of disparaging and bullying behavior and TSM was fined $75,000, with Dinh being ordered to complete sensitivity and executive training.{{cite news | last1=Greeley | first1=Chris | date=14 July 2022 | access-date=14 July 2022 | title=Competitive Ruling: Andy Dinh |url=https://lolesports.com/article/competitive-ruling-andy-dinh/bltae35536c74102b27 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Team SoloMid}}
{{Professional League of Legends competition}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinh, Andy}}
Category:People from San Jose, California
Category:American esports players
Category:League of Legends mid lane players
Category:American sportspeople of Vietnamese descent