FaZe Holdings Inc., the owner and operator of lifestyle and media platform FaZe Clan, has fired its chief executive. FaZe announced that its board of directors had acted on Sept. 9 to terminate Lee Trink from his role as CEO, a post he had held since fall of 2018.

 Christoph Pachler, FaZe’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will step in as interim CEO while retaining his other roles.

Pachler joined FaZe last September as CFO before adding COO to his title in May. Prior to FaZe, he served as executive vice president and CFO at Westwood-based Playboy Enterprises Inc. 

FaZe launched as a video channel of gamers who posted clips and highlight reels of “Call of Duty” games. The company has developed into a “lifestyle and media platform rooted in gaming and youth culture” that manages content creators and owns more than 10 competitive esports teams.

As part of the termination, Trink is required to resign from his position on the company’s board. Trink held his leadership role when FaZe went public in July of last year, trading on the Nasdaq with a reported valuation of $725 million. His ousting came about a week before FaZe hit the end of an initial deadline from Nasdaq to get its share price up or be delisted. Nasdaq filed the delisting notice in March, stating that FaZe’s stock needed to have a closing price of at least $1 for 10 consecutive days. 

A FaZe spokesperson said it had been granted an additional 180 days to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement, following the end of its initial 180-day compliance period on Sept. 19. The company said that Nasdaq makes this extension available when a company continues to meet the market value requirement for trading.

FaZe shares closed at 16 cents on Sept. 21 and has not risen above $1 since the end of January. A FaZe spokesperson told the Los Angeles Business Journal in August that the company did not expect to be delisted and had “taken steps to remedy the current deficiency as needed.” The company did not respond to request for comment on whether Trink’s termination was part of these steps.