The Fanatec Situation is Much Worse Than You Thought
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- Опубликовано: 3 май 2024
- Fanatec / Endor AG is a leading developer in the sim racing hardware industry. Their inner war, seemingly between ex-CEO Thomas Jackermeier and the current executive board has taken on a whole new level.
Follow Rene Sellmann for updates: / renesellmann
#fanatec #simracing 
Игры
How on earth all the shareholders can essentially be completely robbed of their ownership is absolutely wild to me.
Scum stealing from scum, imagine being the type of guy who believes in fanatec so much you want ownership lol why do you think he promoted fanatec so hard for so long? He convinced thousands of people to buy products that he knew weren't going to get delivered on time because he wanted to make money off that affiliate code. If you go back and watch his videos he was one of the biggest CSL DD shills. During the time where if you bought a CSLDD you aren't going to get it for 6 months at least. This is pathetic, predatory behavior on ermz part.
That's why German regulators and politicians need to wake up to this. The StaRUG law is fairly new and there appear to be serious loopholes in it. German publicly traded companies (the 3rd- or 4th-largest economy in the world) may become uninvestable if the current events remain uncontested.
@ There are EU (as a whole) laws that are similar, and we all had to accept them, starting 20 years ago, when my little country entered the Union. Maybe this specific law is new, but the groundwork and similar laws already existed long before.
All the crazy ish they do here in America and still do they just move to other markets when legislation goes into effect. It's brilliant but it guts companies and this is why so many gaming devs are trash. Oh Nacon, or oh ten cent. Lol you're game is turning into monetized trash of that happens.
German politicians are puppets of the elites as well as mainstream media covering up the lies and atrocities. Predator capitalism at it's best.
Fanatec Conflict Summary:
Fanatec, a major sim racing hardware developer, faces a critical internal conflict. The former CEO, Thomas Jackermeier, was ousted and the company may undergo a restructuring process (StaRUG) that could wipe out shareholder investments and benefit a new investment firm, Birkenstein Capital, with connections to Fanatec's current CFO.
Jackermeier, supported by key suppliers and creditors, opposes the restructuring and secured funding to ensure the company's survival. Concerns arise regarding Birkenstein's motives and potential impact on product quality and brand integrity.
The sim racing community is urged to raise awareness and support Jackermeier's efforts to protect Fanatec's future and prevent an unethical takeover.
Hostile takeover...
so can i buy a wheel or not ?
Ah yeah another stein
@@papo4038 yes u can, just dont expect another new products from them from now on, if i knew this i should just buy v3 pedals when its on BF last year
@@hudanofendi3028 you notice to? Ive been noticing for years
For $10 million, Logitech International SA should buy the company and make it their high-end brand.
I like that idea. Corsair is also always looking to diversify into new market segments.
I would suggest holding off on Logitech, they have some QC issues with their products.
@@EhEhEhEINSTEIN Corsair's newer/ aqcuired segments aren't that good. Their Icue software is atrocious (in certain ways) for example ...
@@thijsazerty692iCUE is nowhere near as bad as it used to be.
and ruin the products even more with that shit ass thing named ghub. Shit software with shit wheels and pedals, what could go wrong? lol
Great job. I think your conclusion is on point. The implications for the sim-racing industry as a whole should not be underestimated, and everyone needs to make clear to the public, the regulators, and the hedge fund sharks that this unethical behavior will not be tolerated by Fanatec customers if the management team decides to move on with their plan.
this is smell like greece i love it
This is not unethical. You are simply upset your investment failed due to poor management. Investments are not guaranteed to return money.
thats exactly what is promised to investors in a tradable conpany, thats why they go public... to raise money. with the promise of paying it back by being profitable.
if a company isnt profitable, its seen as criminal misconduct and fined... because they didnt make profit.
you dont invest unless you intend to make a profit. not to support your favorite company for whatever reason.
it doesnt matter, the company itself is treated like a tradable commodity... as soon as you list it on an exchange, you agree to participate by the rules of this game. and so, if you dont profit its yoir fault not the company.
the stock market is a game. and profit is how you win. they dont care anout morals and right or wrong.
I bet you are a key component of this weak PR attempt to rally the troops. Seems to me previous Leadership took advantage of customers when pandemic demand was in his favor. Any fool who thought that party would continue does not deserve to hold the office.
I was treated like garbage by Fanatec for 5 MONTHS
Still didn't solved my issue since NOVEMBER
Same, refused to fix an issue their software created, then stopped responding to my emails. Absolutely disgusting company, I hope they go bust before more customers get scammed.
Not totally convinced this is an objective view tbh. "Poor" Thomas is the guy that led Fanatec to the edge of bankruptcy. Very little mention on Black Friday sales, where it appears a company unable to repay it's lenders, effectively borrowed from its customers by taking money for products that didn't exist. At that point was Fanatec trading solvently? Regardless, we've got one side seemingly prepared to shaft it's shareholders and another prepared to place it's customers cash at risk. I may be wrong but this video is for the existing shareholders, by a shareholder. Not sure either side deserves customers tbh.
Yeah this seems like a desperate attempt to shine a sympathetic light on fanatec’s inevitable downfall. This is ALL about shareholders, not customers. Very manipulative.
@@Hexadeci This will hurt existing and future customers as well as shareholders. They are clearly preparing to gut the company completely and walk away with loads of money.
I don't love how Fanatec has done business in the past, and as one of their customers, I have been very disappointed with their lack of support. That said, if they succeed at gutting the company it will be a pretty big blow to simracing and motorsports in general.
Yeah, I'm not advocating for Fanatec to didappear. There's a place for them in sim racing for sure. But in my humble opinion that might be better served by new owners, where the scalpers do not benefit and someone committed to running the business ethically picks up the reins. I'm sorry but no modern business sells multiple times it's stock holding without knowing and proceeds to ghost it's customers, benefitting from the additional revenue, knowing it can't supply the goods. If you were being uncharitable there are other words to describe this practise and those customers (I wasn't one), could easily have lost their hard earned money.
You are correct, it's not objective. He's a shareholder and if Thomas doesn't get fabatec back then the current board plan to bankrupt the company and sell it to a hedge fund....thus the bank gets their money but the shareholders lose out. This is why they are so against this. I Don't think either are great. Think they would be better off having another sim company buy them up and integrate the products and ip into their stable of products. I.e. logitech, moza, simicube etc.
I'm sorry you lost money on your Fanatec investment. I hope your support for the CEO who led them into this disaster means you hold your shares, I'm sure this video will keep you in his good books. Having said that, the argument that Fanatec gave a monkey's about simracers or customer service to begin with is pretty laughable imo. They're hardly known for their reliability and customer service, if anything it's quite the opposite.
Exactly. I sold all of my Fanatec gear several years ago and currently have an alpha u base, sprint pedals, Heusinkveld pedals. Haven’t had to RMA a product since. I was having an issue with Fanatec stuff every six months or so.
Fanatec thought they could monopolize the mid-high end sim equipment market. Too bad that not only serious competition entered, they quite effectively made Fanatec look like amateurs.
Simagic, Moza, VRS, and Simucube in particular are leagues above Fanatec. Quality, Sofware, and QS wise.
Sorry but i can't feel bad for the investors and old CEO. We were unable to buy Fanatec products for over 3 years. Customer service is nonexistent. Problems with the software and build quality. If someone invested in such an insanely mismanaged company then you are just gambling not investing. During COVID only Fanatec had issues, every other simracing company run smoothly. That should be a first huge red flag. 2 years after covin nothing really has changed. Screw Fanatec and the founder.
Well if you want run company's fame and plan to get big grow in future, this is how you do it. 🚀📈
So you think because a company acts poorly, people who invested in it deserve to be robbed? This is not losing on an investment this is being robbed?
@@marczamp4737 Do you understand these shareholders were basically giving the green light to the customer disregard?
Such hogwash. Get your facts straight.
Absolutely NOT TRUE! I was able to order and receive GT DD Pro and McClaren wheel in March 2024 in just 3 weeks. No problems at all. This is simply hedge fund sharks getting a wolf in the hen house and manipulating the takeover of Fanatec for pennies on the dollar. Pure theft allowed by German restructuring law.
What a poor video - self interest thinly disguised as pro-consumer advice.
Have we all forgotten that Fanatec has spent the last years scamming money out of customers, taking orders which it could not fulfil and hiding behind non-existent customer service to avoid giving refunds? This man would have you believe that he is on your side even though he SELF ADMITTEDLY used this controversy to invest in the company, hoping to make a quick buck from Fanatec's anti-consumer behaviour. This is a fact he excuses, stating that he only gave them money because he "believed" in the company and its products. Guess what - the customers who had their money stolen over the last year also "believed" in Fanatec. It seems only equitable that you also suffer from trying to exploit this situation for your own benefit!
And no, "bad luck" is NOT an adequate explanation for this awful behaviour!
There is also a good reason that this man takes 18 minutes to explain why this is bad news for anyone other than shareholders with a vested interest in preventing the takeover - people like himself. It is because his explanation makes very little logical sense. He asserts that the new ownership *might* be bad for customers because they *might* care more about money than making quality products. This is a laughable argument given that the previous ownership HE CHOSE TO FUND were the definition of these activities, taking money from customers long after it became clear that they could not fulfil orders in a timely manner.
He will have you believe that the old CEO who oversaw all of this was a paragon of virtue, just a man fighting for the good of his small business. Are we both talking about the same multi-million dollar scam operation here? He tells you that the new management are "white-collar criminals" - but shareholders like him trying to make a dollar out of Fanatec's anti-consumer activities are just "supporting the company"??
You should not listen to this guy. He did NOT come back to youtube because he cared about you or anyone other than himself.
Bro bro the ceo needs our help tho! Come on! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I think the reality might be somewhere in the middle, but yes there is clearly a conflict of interest by the creator of the video, as he pointed out himself... he didn't try to hide that.
but yes whichever way things go I think Fanatec is in a world of trouble. I'd say neither option is likely to be good and I don't think Fanatec can ever again be what it once was. The competition is immense now. It's only a matter of time until Fanatec are just one of many competing at each of their products' price points. MAYBE the previous CEO could save the company somehow, but I don't expect it to be smooth sailing and far from easy.
As a fanatec consumer myself i didnt give a damn about this whole video other then the last 2 minutes where he said product quality could potentially go down
It's as if this rug pull will cause sim racing to disappear into thin air. Even then it would just get re-invented and people would move on. What this is going to suck for the most are the people would bought things and didn't get them. And the future support of existing products. But that's always been a reality in tech.
@@HazewinDog I agree that my take is pretty extreme, and also that ermz does not try to hide the conflict of interest resulting from his financial ties to the company.
But, he does deliberately hide the way Fanatec has behaved under Jackermeier over the past year. In fact, he tries to use the events of this period to portray Fanatec in a sympathetic light - as a poor little victim of “bad luck” and “supply issues”. This is, in my opinion, a laughable description especially in a video ostensibly concerned about ethics. The only reason I can conceive of for @Ermz refusing to assign any accountability to the company for how it behaved during this period is his own vested interest - it is hard to argue that anyone should feel sympathetic to Jackermeier when he spent the last year taking people’s money without delivering products or taking proper steps to address customer concerns about delivery time. It is of course notable that during this time (where the Fanatec share price dropped due to the controversy) @Ermz states that he chose to invest in the hopes that stocks would recover and he could make his own profit on the fallout of Fanatec’s dishonesty.
This is why I chose to criticise the video even though he does not directly lie about his vested interests. I believe that large parts of the narrative are nonetheless misleading - and aside from that, his point is not very convincing anyway. Jackermeier is at best the lesser of two evils and the best honest advice that could be given to consumers at this time is probably just to steer clear of the dumpster fire.
Well, just one more reason not to buy any Fanatec gear I guess.
After we get over all the pearl clutching, the bottom line remains, Fanatec put themselves in this position, the Starug situation is only applicable when a Company reaches the point of financial crisis.
These guys bricked 2 of my wheels because their update software didn't check to make sure it could find the firmware file before erasing the flash (home directory had non english characters in it). Yeah...Now it was eventually covered under warranty but took forever.
My DD1 was bricked after an update. I shipped it back and they offered me $50 to scrap it. I ended up paying to ship it back to me. FU Thomas.
@@ianscotty6419 damn, good thing i bought a trustmaster then i guess
The irony that RUclips played an ad for the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro is not lost on me. Bonkers.
The economy is literally fake and ... you know the phrase. Sorry if I got the terminology wrong, I'm no economist. Before my little country joined the EU, we had on the table an offer from the USA, that they (USA) will lobby current EU members to accept us in the Union. The catch. We will adopt a law about protecting (USA) investors. The law was basically saying: if we invest in your country, and your local laws make it so that the company we invested in is not turning expected profit, the government will accept the responsibility. So if you invest, and the company doesn't grow as expected, or even if there is 2008 style crysis, we, the taxpayers, will have to cover the losses. This is so insane, that 20 years later, I still cannot believe it. Some agreement was made about this economic protection law, but I don't know the specifics anymore. I just remember that the final draft wasn't so insane. But even the final law, it just isn't morally right.
A similar law was proposed as an EU law, but was later scrapped/rewritten. I think USA proposed this law to the EU first and then to the specific countries.
You may be wondering. But if I invest in your shitcountry, and you make a law that makes my investment not profitable, why shouldn't I sue your government? OK, sure. Then don't invest. But don't say, I'll invest, and if it doesn't turn out the expected profit, we the taxpayers will have to cover. Those are separate issues. And what about if the whole EU goes into depression?
So, bringing back to Fanatec. I know there are "investment banks/agencies/firms," that specialize in these kinds of machinations. "We'll make your company profitable, but everyone will lose everything, except 5 to 10 people who'll receive the golden parachute." I don't know how this is even possible and out in the open. Just search "Restructuring consulting firms." That's one par why I believe The Economy is literally fake.
edit: In that proposed law, there would be special international "economic" courts (courts in name only), that don't have any connection to the country. That was also insane.
Thats absolutely crazy!!!
Another thing these vultures do is buy successful brands and literally steal the pension pot the workers have paid into the let the company go to the wall. BHS in the UK is a good example.
Yeah more or less it's one big screw job for the avg person.
wait till you hear that banks can do bail ins like in Greece where they just take the money from your account to prop them selves up.. the entire fiat based fractional reserve economy is gonna come down.. it dies in 2008 and has simply been kept on life support.
interesting times lay round the corner
@@paddyodoors2757 Happened to my dad in 07.. about to retire at 67 half a mil down.
So what you are alleging is that the company has had it's value deliberately depressed to make a privatisation possible......now how did the previous CEO let that happen? Why is he given the benefit of the doubt? Was he not the boss while the company was becoming problematic? Just because he is the biggest shareholder and founder doesn't absolve him from responsibility.
The integrity and morality of this situation doesn't matter, what does is why the company is in the position. Sharks only attack when there's blood in the water. Idk what affiliations you have, but you seem to have picked a side and taken this personally.
Exactly. 100% spot on. I was hestiant of this guy from the get go, he's invested in it himself and trying to save his money. Boo hoo
This, 100%. Sounds like he put a lot of eggs in the Fanatec basket and lost his ass under their poor management, now he’s trying to make a moral argument that Fanatec and its terrible CEO are the victims here. Why else suddenly return to a channel he abandoned to drop a video about the evils (reality) of corporate takeovers?
as a person who is about to start down the rabbit hole of sim racing , from here in australia the fanatec problems showed up massively quite awhile ago , news reports and internet posts etc, and as much i reallly wanted fanatec , there is no way now i will look to them now , or future
been sim racing for years never liked fannytec went Moza and couldn't be happier did some research on them ended up finding out they make gimbal's etc top of field stuff so you know your getting a good product
I just bought in on a Fanatec bundle before I learned of all this. Now they have taken payment and haven't shipped anything, and zero communication, no response to emails. Fanatec has the worst logistics and customer service. I wish I had not bought in now..... Go Moza.
Maybe you should buy Moza wheel.
As CEO Thomas had a responsibility to make good decisions for the growth of his company and his investors and he failed. that's what got Fanatec in this position in the first place. Doesn't make any of this right. But the man himself needs to shoulder the blame here
Agreed. Thomas lost the plot and as the largest shareholder he is now trying to protect his own interests. He opened the door wide open for the opportunistic vultures by loading up on debt and not executing the business plan properly. Unfortunately I don't think either side has covered themselves with glory here. They all need to do better. If the company survives it will likely be better off in the long run as all this controvery will sharpen the minds and business plans of the future management team. In the short term, enjoy the show and don't buy any shares.
I've been hearing horror stories about their products and support for a long time before any of the recent drama.
They seem to have always had issues.
He will get his golden parachute at the end too. No way in hell he doesn’t.
Any business company that is not customer focused will have issues remaining competitive because customer satisfaction and retention is what most of the successful companies strive for. And is indeed the hallmark of any ISO regulated company.
Truth. Only Apple is an exception the that rule tbh.
You should do another 20min video on the last 3 years of Fanatec and what lead them to this point as it simply didnt happen for no reason. This video is trying to rid the CEO of any liability but he got them to this point.
exactly..who hired the CFO?
I rather prefer gaming content than complaining videos, 6 months we waited for this
Yeah he is playing the good guy but he signed off on all the paperwork years ago knowing this was coming. We all need to help this ceo 🤣🤣🤣🤣 my god
@@tHEMADGUY1000 creators do not have a duty to serve us. what we get is what we get. if you are a fan, youll appreciate what you are given.
@@iHadWaterForDinneryour ignorance is blinding.
Ah man, it's so great to see another video from you. I've seen ads for your bass MIDIs more times than I can count on IG lol.
It is a problem when companies become in interest of shareholders and interests of customers. This looks like the process of removing small shareholders who have a personal vested interest in the direction of company product and handing it all to bean counters who only care about themselves.
Company I work in has the same business structure where rewards go to those who can beat their budget to get the leftovers of the budget, if they can beat that then their new budget matches the last years result. Rinse repeat but the people who miss out are the customer as the quality drops and the frontline workers work longer hours, challenging EA etc.
Broader problem at the moment. Lots of brands are being destroyed by people at the top killing the golden goose and cashing out. The same thing is happening to former AAA video game publishers and GW.
Why would we voice our support for a CEO who totally ignored his customers at all levels? Both sides of the fence are very dirty. Corsair should be a good fit, as their customer support and iCue software is at that same poor level.
So good to see you hope you’re doing well. Hope to see more videos from you. I’ve missed your content.
That is a brave and bold video, Ermz.
Will certainly be sharing and following relevant actors. Maybe you could consider keeping us posted as well, periodically. Since you have more insight and knowledge of this specific situation.
Ermz, thank you for taking the time to make us aware of the situation and for explaining it to those of us who are not so business savvy.
I'm a motorsports fan and this is REALLY bad. Fanatec sponsors so many series and if they are going to stiff debtors then I would imagine it would have impact also in the motorsports world.
tbh I don't care about their sponsorships, the truth is their shipping was joke basically always nowadays to extreme and product quality also dropped and was easily beaten by numerous brands that came to the scene in last years - yeah thing that happened is shady but fanatec as a whole was overrated since long long time now
Oh no another better company can step up! Let this shit company fail. It’s a sim racing company. Moza etc will swallow up the market share easily and the world will be fine
@@georgesummer536see I wasn't aware of any of this going on, but I ordered two of the CSL DD 5nm setups (their $399 special) two weeks ago and I got everything in yesterday and it all arrived in great condition. I guess I feel lucky given what's going on. I've been a Fanatec customer for a long time but haven't bought anything from them since the launch of the CSW v1 wheel base and BMW wheel. So I haven't been paying attention to what's going on with them at all.
A Chinese company should buy Fanatec at a deeply discounted price. Fanatec has great brand recognition and a relatively large user base.
If Fanatec didnt spend so much on sponsorship they might not be in so much debt
If you replace Fanatec with the country of Greece, StaRUG with the IMF, you can reliably predict the future of Fanatec.
that's racist
@@LilPolemistisXL how?
it just is... the country still exists so fuck steve and his racist comment
@@MrMustache-yn4zmit isn't, they're just beyond tarted
@@stever1412 I love tart 👍
They completely fucked up their dominant position on the mid level market. It would be easy to get back on track, less sponsorships, more customer service was everything they had to do to get back. They could get away with the bad service and the ridiculous distribution model when they were alone in that market tier, but when the competition got fierce with competitors like Moza, Asetek and others pushing out decent products are affordable prices they did nothing. You can't fool around people, you can't make your products almost impossible to be found when in the market there are equivalent products made by other companies. I wanted to buy Fanatec by the end of last year when I upgraded my rig to a DD base but I had to look elsewhere (and I'm happy with what I've got) because it was literally impossible to have a Fanatec product delivered in a reasonable time. The ego of the former CEO and the stupid thought that Sim racers would willingly accept the silly excuses and the lies he said contributed to the fall of the company. Luckily for the sim racing world there are good (and in some case even better) alternatives.
@Ermz if you can, get Thomas Jackermeier on here, that would be great. Being able to hear from him directly with his own voice and face on a trusted sim sport RUclips channel would be helpful.
Surprised to see an update from your channel after so long. Thank you for briefly coming out of simracing retirement to share your insights. I just dropped your video at RD and will be passing it on further. Ever since Simracing boomed during the COVID lockdown many great things happened to our hobby... including a lot of interest and investment that delivered great hardware and titles to the community. But the saying 'along came a spider' exists for a reason. Hopefully things will work out for Thomas and Fanatec... it'd be a shame for them to succumb to such fate.
The management ran up 70 million worth of debt, That is the point that the shareholders got screwed over. What's happening now is a result of that mismanagement. The former CEO isn't the white night saviour as has been presented.
Was the go kart track open to the public ?
You are so good at filling time with words. The time it took to start talking about fanatec
Great summary of a critical situation Ermz. Tweeted this out with a request for everyone to share it.
I don't always agree with you man, but I've always respected your work. Thanks for this service to the Fanatec customers and shareholders out there.
Great seeing you again Ermz... all be it under crap circumstances.
Left the Fanatec boat a while ago.... They make good products. Customer support... So so....
Hope they will sort things out and the authorities will chime in before disaster strikes.
Great video! Thanks for sharing!
So as a customer, what do you think is the best we can do? Support the company as much as we can in its current state or wait?
A shareholder in panic that he will lose his money, mentions pennys on the dollar like 500 times, its sad its happening, but come on you just wanna make your money nothing else...
Glad I bailed on fanatec after my DOA DD2, always felt like they were a sketchy company (I owned their first ever wheel) and pushed people towards other brands.
Missed you, Hermsandwich! Good update, thanks!
There was a time when I regretted not getting a Fanatec when I was in the market for a wheel. I don’t anymore.
Thanks for this man, hope your keeping well buddy :D. Great to hear a different more backend explanation of what is going on over the the usual customer service issues that have plague the youtube space lol. Crazy to hear man, I am lost for words.
All the best.
So the latest view is that is now a nailed on certainty. Company is about to be stolen by Corsair.
Thank you for this information! Also, I hope you come back to this channel again some day!
I hope this video goes viral. Commenting to support the algorithm!
You conveniently forget to mention that StaRUG can only be applied to companies that go brankrupt and that all creditors have to agree.
I read up on StaRUG after this video. I'm slightly confused by the missing VERY important information.
If StaRUG was to happen the company has to basically be bankrupt and do every possible thing to prove that they tried to stop this from happening. As they just made a new HQ that means they still have a lot of assets that they can sell to try and survive. The shareholders like you said have to agree to this as well, meaning that the money they invested they know would be gone just as much as going bankrupt would as well.
If my understanding is correct then the entire basis of this video is very flawed. I agree it's pretty suspicious that the new ceo was an employee of the new investment firm.
No I doesn’t. The conditions can vary, but it's when a company is unable to meet its financial obligations and needs a legal framework to restructure its debts and operations to avoid bankruptcy. Which is why this guy is saying it looks weird to hire a CEO who just did that with the last company he was with and come to fanatec and say theirs major issues
The idea is not to apply StaRUG but to drive fear in investors so that the stock price drops near 0. This way Birkenstein capital can buy the majority of shares for pennies. They don't want to close the company and liquidate. They want to own the company. Having the stock go to 0 is the same as making all shareholders sell everything.
thank you for taking the time to make this
Lost a bit of weight man hope everything alright awesome video love your content and I’ve missed it 🙌
Thank you for the well thought out explanation of what is going on.
Excellent, thanks. Let's not forget that over the years, under Thomas Jackermeier's leadership, FANATEC has had a number of fairly serious problems with both quality control and product delivery. Then, there are the apparently foolish missteps - during the Pandemic - that led directly to the current situation. I _do_ hope this battle saves FANATEC from the financial predators Jackermeier let into his house as a result of those mistakes, and I further hope that German law is modified as well, but I'm _not at all_ sure that he, Jackermeier, should return as CEO.
For my part, though I have been a sim racer since since the very beginning (1980s), I have never bought a FANATEC product. However, I did - reluctantly - _try_ to buy one of their wheel and pedal sets, in 2009. The company failed to ship the products, _and_ failed to respond to my messages, so I cancelled the PayPal transaction. I then bought a Logitech G27 instead, and I believe that proved to be the right decision.
Ermin, this was the best explanation I've heard of the dark forces at work, under the cover of darkness to commit outright fraud and theft. I hope your video kicks the hornets nest into preventing this evil act from coming to fruition. I sincerely miss your sim racing content and wish you well in all that you do. God bless and race on 🏁
I really hope Fana survives with Thomas at the helm. I've personally never had any issues with them, delivery wise, parts wise. They've always been super responsive, so long may they continue. They make class products.
Yeah, no.
@@JohnBaxendale obviously we've had different experiences, I'm just saying I've bought two complete wheel/pedal sets for two different rigs and I've never had a problem. So... Yeah, yeah.
@@aarongreen121 Your experiences of them doing the bare minimum in supplying what you paid for, in no way negate the experiences of *many other* people who have had miserable customer experience. It's easy for a company to to deliver a product, it's when it goes wrong and what they do to fix it that shows whether they actually care about their customers or not.
I've had 3 wheelbases, 2 wheels and one set of pedals from them. The wheels, 1 wheelbase and pedals have so far not broken, but I've two dead wheelbases. Fanatec want *me* to pay to fix a wheelbase that their own shitty software broke, they no longer even respond to my emails - this is a miserable way to treat customers, AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.
@@JohnBaxendale well I won't be avoiding them, I think they're great. Cheers!
@@aarongreen121 So did I until I ended up with an 800 euro paperweight they won't fix. Good luck!
Wow, the headline is NOT click bait. This is insanity
No it’s his speculative opinion. This guy can’t tell the future.
@@licksta611 What opinion? The whole point is the cabal of the investors and the board clearly violating the interests of the "casual" investor! They keep pushing for what they want, while clearly only using their own speculation of what the real state is!
That is CLEARLY why the two biggest investors are with the former CEO, and the board´s and new CEOs "love" for numbers is why they deem it sensible trying to buy the former CEOs silence in the first place!
Every enterprise that is not managed by deranged bastards is "willing" to fall. The daner of financial sabotage doesn´t mean the industry and the skills weren´t good!
The know-how and deispersion of know-how, which stands on people, who have FAMILIES, stands on keeping the string of decency. Bankrupcy, while definitely a "fool´s result", is never the end of the industry, or a cause for people being overwhelmedd by pressures, that stand, no matter their faculties, mostly on the indecency of industry at large(!)
Everyone that "has enough" due to "having people around", and can "crash in Africa and make himself a living, is more than fine with cutting heir losses or "losing everything".
Inhumane indecency and gaming of every decent plan of action is how this shit is!
All mustered together by someone who just doesn´t give a fuck. You only deal with yourself, your skills. Anything over that is always approached with caution by anyone with a conscience, conscience that stands on values most common. The issue is, that the new "leadership" clearly has drowned their perception of how functional and not stupid the common man is, hence why they see this as justifiable. The bottom line is, they were consciously obfuscating the state of the company nad their plans, until it got tunneld far enough for most investors to be "shit out of luck"! Clear criminal behaviour!
"You won´t make it Glass, better kill you myself". "killed your problematic son too. Anyway..."
Type of stuff.
I won´t condemn them totally, but there can be some profoundly, Soros-like rotten people in there, and the rest is too absorbed in Buiiisiinneeesszz, to see how much they suck and how regularly stupid they are. It all stands on someone propagating fear and using people somewhere down the line. They ALL SUCK.
Best coverage I’ve found on RUclips around this. Thank you!
"I think you would understand any presentation using the word EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) if every time you saw that word, you just substituted the phrase 'bullshit earnings'." Charlie Munger
Hey, never seen your channel but that financial outlook/offer (17:00) is crazy! And to reject it!? Thomas is wild for rejecting such a large payout, even with an under-performing scenario for the company. Massive respect for the man.
Don't give up on the channel please! We love your videos!
@Ermz . I'm just trying to clear in my mind conflicts of interest...can you clarify the timings of your investment into Fanatec...and was disclosure provided if applicable in any content you created during the relevant period? You quietly exited this channel about a year ago, and a year later invested in Fanatec...so in the last few months? 2:04 As someone who never came across your channel, even though I have been simracing since 2012, it seems a concern that you pop out of the darkness to raise concerns about your investment. Even you can surely admit the cynical mind would have concerns with your timing. Notwithstanding the apparent facts you provided.
Understandable. I was never a shareholder in Endor while I created any content about the company. I only entered the position well after dropping the curtain on this channel. This video is the first time it became relevant, hence the immediate disclosure so viewers can make the checks and balances up in their own minds. The position is a very small portion of my overall portfolio, and even if it were to go to $0 it's something I would barely feel. All the same, it felt relevant enough to highlight going into this topic, as we're already dealing with what apparently looks to be egregious conflict of interest within the company itself.
@Ermz I appreciate the honesty. Thanks for your reply. 👍
Wow, have been out of the sim racing space for about a year now and am shocked by this news. I remember getting my first Fanatec wheel 13 years ago and have been a fan ever since. I cannot believe this news and am 100% behind Thomas and his support. I applaud him for his integrity and continued loyalty to the people in this community.
Thanks man, I have been looking at new kit for my setup. Hearing these things informs me as a buyer to be careful.
This does make me believe that everything wrong that was happening with Fanatec like delays, bad CS and QA were all fabricated to put Fanny in bad spot for overtake
Well done for explaining this better than any other You tubers on how bad the situation is
so would i be affected in any way if i decided to purchase from Fanatec now?
Go with Simagic or Simcube. Avoid Fanatec.
What benefits would the current management group get from doing this? So they get complete control over the company. Do they really think they will be able to keep customers after this come to light?
Stories like this of quality companies getting devoured by these Billionaire Investment groups to ruin awesome products like Fanatec make me sad. This stuff should be criminal.
As a G25 owner who has both been locked out of better Wheels, I don't know how to feel about this. I will share but I am still a bit sour that the prices have soared like crazy.
So if Fanatec is not gonna fall, what does all those things mean to a standard Fanatec’ customer?
I think it's worth pointing out that Leoni situation is still pretty recent and there is still legal measures taken against the outcome, so it might be the case that the whole move will not go through as it was designed to, but it's still up in the air at this point in time is my understanding.
Why i left fanatec ecosystem 3 Years back. I had a new elite base and they discontinued them a month later lol and the McLaren v2 wheel . Right after the warranty ended a pin broke off into the base and I paid for an RMA on both items and since I live in LA and they had a distribution center there so instead of mailing it. I just took it down myself and at first I didn't want to accept it because they said it has to go through the mail but they eventually took it since I was there. They sent back the base. It was still broken. It I would not align right so I sent it back again for an RMA again and they forced me to do it through mail for some when I can just get down there in 30 minutes myself. The wheel had 3 months of downtime It still came back broken eventually. I just sold it and moved to moza. And never look back. I've only upgraded my moza system I'm very happy
Great content shame you ain't full time on RUclips. Love how you broke that down
Now that is the definition of having the carpet pulled from under your feet
Good heavens
This is what happens when you push out a ton of new products, throw money at sponsorships and marketing deals, and at the same time refuse to grow the customer service side of your business. This has been a long time coming and while I don’t want to see a competitor leave the sim racing space, especially one that helped to grow the hobby, their situation is one of their own making. Their customer support has been a running joke in the sim racing community since the very beginning.
Man this is Wild. I think most fans of Sim racing want to see Fanatec doing well and continuing to innovate.
Nah
No
Yeah @@neverenoughgames72
Yes
How do you make a company worth 100x more and make it significantly worse at the same time? This video is very much misleading to say the least. Fanatec has been a joke for so many years now and this is on them. Period. It is about you and your money, not us consumers. Shameful.
Was originally happy i bought my Fanatec gear days before the black friday bs... Now im kinda pissed at my timing... Should've just gone Moza
Can’t say the internet didn’t warn you but hey atleast you admit the L like a man.
should be plenty of second hand stuff to grab if you need parts down the line. they sold a lot of gear.
Thanks for the video. Glad you're digging deeper than the rest to find all the obvious flaws in the StaRUG process, including the situation with both Birkenstein / (Ex-)Blue-Cap managers. Unfortunately I just read, that they will likely pull through with the StaRUG and effectively disown everyone who used to be involved with Endor AG stocks incl. Jackermeier and a few other Ex-Fanatec managers. It's really horrible and this decision should be reversed immediately. EU law is ridiculously flawed sometimes. Who in their right mind would come up with this sort of bs?
"Nadie te debe nada"
Freddy Vega CEO and Co-Funder of Platzi
what this means is nobody cares we as customer exchange goods for products and services
and Fanatec right now is the worst option that you can pick for your SIM racing experience. Instead of having paid so many millions to sponsor IRL races and excessive advertising spaces, they should have thought about improving and preparing because any economic analyst could easily see that it was a bubble, although I don't blame them because other big players like Amazon with Twitch did no prepare.
Also If this restructuring means that I can trust that my product will arrive and not have to wait 3 weeks between responses well, I don't mind if they change the entire company, but is little late because Moza offers similar products and they do ship. instead of the pantomime that Fanatec has about its products.
I’m so glad I chose Logitech over fanatec. The G Pro wheel is the best thing I’ve ever owned
lol both are low end
@@SIMRIG412is it necessary to be a douchebag?
Doomsday broadcasts like this need to be taken with great amount of skepticism. A lot more research is needed.
thanks for sharing this clearly! hope you enjoy your retiremen!
same is happening at my company. We kind of 3 years in
Without knowing anything at all about their CEO being removed or knowing any of this, I am looking to upgrade to a new wheel base and Rim and I decided I wanted to not buy Fanatec because it seems like I am a bit limited. I own a GT-DD with CS 2.5 with Podium upgrade and their top end pedals. Within months I switched out my Fanatec pedals with VRS pedals and I am very pleased.
I'm currently looking at Sim Cube, Sim Magic or Asetek. Some big sim racers I really admire are demonstrating these other brands. Most of them all own Fanatec but currently seems like it is left behind and they jump ship to bigger or more advanced equipment. I've heard some people say Fanatec is very good entry level stuff. ?
Now I've never tried any other gear as I am a NEWB. About 2 years almost maybe. I love all your videos. And I thank you. Your a share holder so it's a investment rip off for you.
Without knowing any of this stuff I have been looking at other options as I want to jump from 8NM to something bigger which is normal. Their DDs are old now. They did come out with a nice club sport base which was tempting but it's only a jump to 15 NM. Which is probably more than enough. But I don't want it to be at it's maxed out level plus some of the other bases are described by guys who test drive them much the way you do for us, which is to be respected, "Thank you" .... seriously, Your very cool and I loved your videos! But I chose to jump ship before knowing any of this at all. But I'll keep my fanatec gear I currently have as it may become extinct through economic evolution. Governments among nations are also doing these same things. The desire of money is the root of all evil, It's nice to see a pro GT circuit race with Fanatec written all over it. But there's big money and big investing and opportunities for some regardless of who gets stepped on. This news makes me glad I decided to change upon upgrading. I love you as a sim racer and we all love your videos. Hope to see you with other gear to share with us. I hope you don't lose a great deal with your investment if it comes to this. But it looks like it's not gonna change for the better.
Best wishes.
I purchased their entry level bundle in March, still haven't received it. I wish I'd known of this unethical activity back then, I'd have found a more ethical company to support!
All you current shareholder's need to raise a joint legal act against these criminals!
Seems way to common lately, ship delays, shit support, bad QC and products breaking...
Man, despite being sorry for your delayed shipping, there were red flags about Fanatec all over RUclips and videos calling out their customer support
Return that junk
You’re full of it. Cancel the order then fool.
Bitter sweet video. Great to see content on the channel again. However wish it were under better circumstances.
Genuinely hope fanatec is able to keep the core that made fanatec great. I would hate to see the company fall into the modern investment firm trap because as you have eluded to, there is no way that the quality will stay the same especially given the very clear intentions to sell in short period of time.
If the statement for the capital investment did not reference such a short ROI timeframe one could argue benefit of the doubt. But that timeframe is pretty clear intentions.
Who is the best fit competitor that would step up and pickup the slacks?
Not hard to figure out what's going on , they will devaluate shares , hopping other share holders will sell out to cut their loses , get customers to fear they are going out of business so people dont buy the products forcing the company into a situation where anther company can walk right in run things change the product line so their base products are cheaper will sell fast while custom products will have less accessories at a higher price point , show a profit then sell the company as a profitable enterprise but not sell the patents on their top products so the new company which owns it will be stuck making substandard products while it goes under . If the founder refuses to sell his shares being the majority share holder that stops the hostile take over in its tracks , so they will make life rough for him to try and bully him into selling out using shady tactics .
Wow! I'm glad I didn't place an order last week. Holding off till this is sorted seems best. Wish Thomas the best of luck.
Man November last year I was looking at a DD wheel almost went Fanatec but got a deal I couldnt say no to on a Logitech G Pro Wheel, kind of glad I didn't go Fanatec with all the stories I have seen online, sad to see Fanatec in this state.
Great video. I didn’t know about any of this, it’s insanity
In the US we have words for this that you never want to hear happen to a company you like... Hostile take over then a pump and dump which in the US both are regulated and must pass FTC approval but are not mechizum for The UG gov much less leadership to effect a company.
Wow this guy must have a lot of stock in Fanatec!
This is a genuine shame... Over C-19 both my dad and I got into sim racing and purchased identical fanatec setups. Knowing just how bad things are at HQ is making me concerned about anyone who owns their hardware now...
I currently own fanatec wheel base. I'm more inclined to upgrade to a different brand if I ever upgrade or need to replace things.
I agree with you! Thanks for your great video! I had the same thoughts
very sad, the problem in the the world is no-one care about anything other than money
This worries me as i've just brought a fanatec bundle a week ago, as of today they're still doing handover to the warehouse. i hope this does not affect things too much.
Update, just been sent out for delivery after 2 weeks from ordering it :)
seen this posted in some fb groups and its scary how many people are shilling for Fanatec despite not even watching any of the video
Anytime you post anything negative. The fanstec fanboys go for blood. They're afraid they may have spend good money on a shit company/product
As such a commercially well-known company and brand name, this is very sad to see. Hopefully, this works out for the shareholders and both existing and new customers. The mismanagement and poor strategic decisions have hurt the brand.
Learning of this, I am now even happier to have moved to another ecosystem (Simagic) as the situation sits very poorly with me as a former Fanatec customer of 3 years.
On a side note, some of the recently released Fanatec direct drive bases do offer a good value proposition if orders can actually be fulfilled year-round to help drive profitability.
More mid-high end wheels are required, and premium pedals would be a welcome addition to the product range.
The company's future needs to be decided first before any R&D for new products, though unfortunately.
Wondering if Thomas still owns the patent license for the products? If so, take his patents somewhere else (Logitech, Thrustmaster).
Funny because when I started back into sim racing after a 20 year hiatus (started in the mid 90s with a Thrustmaster Formula T1), Fanatec was "THE" name thrown around all the time. And I just about bought a used CLS, but switched to a used T300RS and T3PA-Pro pedals instead. Since then hearing all the complaints about Fanatec customer service, shipping delays, broken QRs, etc., I am so glad I didn't join the herd and become a Fanatec sheep!
Hope this situation remedies itself for the sake of the investors and current owners of Fanatec products, but it appears to be in dire hell!
What this means for a customer then? It's safe to buy something now? If I placed an order, should I run into a refund immediately or should I wait for it?
If I should run away from Fanatec which alternatives I have in EU? I always heard and hear Fanatec from everyone I know...
I'm confused like never before.
Logitech tend to make good stuff.
Refund. Go to moza or Asetek for example. People tent to Fanatec because they don't know any other company. You will not find a single large professional Sim racer which does not have any problem with fanatec hardware in the past
did your BMW ever get fixed?