Following the Bungie layoffs of 220 employees and the transfer of some to Sony, criticism ensued. It was revealed that CEO Pete Parsons used company funds to purchase a large number of classic cars after selling the business to Sony in 2022.
Information about Parsons’ car purchases came from his own profile on the vintage car auction website, Bring a Trailer. He bid on 369 cars and won 25 auctions, with some going for as high as $200,000. The most recent winning bid was in June 2024, while the last bid he placed (but lost) was on July 19, just weeks before the layoffs were announced.
Parsons’ interest in classic cars may have been personal and was not an issue when the studio was doing well. However, as the studio began to face challenges and some employees had to be let go, Parsons’ car purchases came under heavy scrutiny in the past 1-2 days, with calls for him to resign.
Note: Parsons was not a co-founder of Bungie in 1991 but joined in 2002 and was promoted to CEO in 2016.
Source – Eurogamer
TLDR: After laying off employees, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons faced criticism for using company funds to purchase classic cars, leading to calls for his resignation.
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