EKWB’s future looks grim — key personnel jump ship to Noctua and Thermal Grizzly

Some of EK Water Block’s top employees are now leaving the company, with Head of Product Marketing Attila Gobor reportedly joining Noctua and Lead Product Designer Joe Robey moving to Thermal Grizzly as its Head of Mechanical R&D. This news, as reported by OC3D, is the latest blow in a series of setbacks that the water-cooling giant is experiencing.

The issue first came to light in April of this year when reports surfaced that EKWB had left its employees and suppliers unpaid for four months. It was soon confirmed by its CEO and founder, Edvard König, who promised to rectify problems and right the EKWB ship. All this happened nearly two years after the company cut its workforce by 25% percent, significantly as global sales of water-cooling solutions dropped precariously.

However, even after stepping back into the reins of leadership, it seems that EKWB is still not on track to profitability. The problem of EKWB’s workforce’s unpaid salaries has become so prevalent that the Slovenian labor authorities have stepped in and started investigating the company.

Although the company has not declared bankruptcy, we’re unsure how long it can survive. This latest departure of top talents could mean they already see the company as a lost cause and are jumping ship to save themselves. OC3D has allegedly talked to several industry insiders to see if there is a chance that a competitor could acquire the company. However, most responses say that EKWB has too much debt and that any acquisition would not make financial sense.

Unless EKWB can make a drastic change or someone makes an offer on the company, we’re afraid it might not last much longer. This would be a significant blow to the water-cooling industry, especially as EKWB is one of the few companies that has created premium water-cooling solutions for extreme enthusiasts. Nevertheless, Robey’s move to Thermal Grizzly might mean it plans to launch products that could compete with or even replace EKWB’s cooling solutions.

We still hope that EKWB can recover and continue making water-cooling products that will allow enthusiasts to push their chips to the limit. As our chips get faster (and hotter), we could surely use EKWB’s expertise to help us keep their temperatures down.