IronSource co-founders exiting Unity amid mass layoffs

IronSource CEO and Unity Grow president Tomer Bar-Zeev is exiting the engine maker alongside the other founders of monetization firm.

Unity merged with IronSource in 2022 and reportedly valued the Israeli company at $4.4 billion, but with layoffs taking place a number of IronSource co-founders including Bar-Zeev have agreed to depart.

As detailed in an SEC filing, Bar-Zeev will leave his role as president of Unity Grow, which he stepped into following the merger, effective immediately–though he will remain a non-executive employee for six months to assist with the transition.

The other founders of IronSource–Eyal Milrad, Omer Kaplan, Tamir Carmi, Assaf Ben-Ami, and Arnon Harish–have also agreed to mutually terminate their current roles effective immediately, but like Bar-Zeev will also be sticking around a while to help the company transition.

"Mr. Bar-Zeev remains committed to the success of the Company and will continue to serve on the Company's Board of Directors," reads the filing, which confirmed the departures are linked to Unity's ongoing restructuring plans.

Unity layoffs take out IronSource leadership team

Earlier this week Unity announced it would be laying off around 1,800 workers to deliver "long-term and profitable growth."

The latest layoffs will impact around 25 percent of the company's current workforce and follow a cascade of job cuts that took place in 2023.

In a statement sent to Game Developer shortly after the news broke, Unity said the decision to sanction more layoffs wasn't taken lightly and pledged to support employees throughout the process.

"As part of our company reset outlined in our Shareholder Letter on November 9, 2023, we announced that Unity has made the difficult decision to implement a workforce reduction, targeting approximately 25 percent of our total workforce across all teams. This decision was not taken lightly, and we extend our deepest gratitude to those affected for their dedication and contributions," said Unity.

"We are committed to supporting impacted employees through this challenging transition. We appreciate the understanding and support of our community and stakeholders as we navigate these changes together."