KSI's departure highlights new challenge for creator collectives

KSI's departure from the Sidemen is drawing attention to a challenge more creator collectives are likely to face as they mature into media businesses: what happens when a founder decides to leave?

Many creator collectives that began as passion projects are now operating sprawling businesses, bringing with them questions around ownership, intellectual property and succession planning that would once have been associated with traditional media companies.

KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, announced on Sunday that he would be leaving the Sidemen after 13 years, citing the need to improve his work-life balance and focus on his health. The remaining members described the decision as a surprise but said the group would continue creating content.

His departure comes at a time when the Sidemen have evolved far beyond their origins as a YouTube group. Founded in 2013, the collective has grown into one of Britain's most successful creator businesses, spanning merchandise, food and drink brands, live events, long-form entertainment and, more recently, its own production company.

"KSI's departure from the Sidemen is a significant moment for the creator economy because it highlights a tension that many successful collectives will increasingly face: the gap between how these groups started – as informal collaborations between friends – and what they have become," Phil Hughes, partner at Lewis Silkin and founder of the Digital Creator Association, told The Daily Influence.

"For collectives that are still in their early stages, this should serve as a clear signal that founder departures are not hypothetical risks – they are near-certainties as individual careers diverge over time," he added.

Matt Navarra, a social media consultant who has advised organisations including Google, Meta and the BBC, said the industry is now confronting the consequences of that evolution.

"A huge amount of the creator economy was built on vibes and less about legal paperwork," he said. "That's shifting quite quickly now as the money and audience sizes get much bigger."

Navarra added that audiences often still view groups such as the Sidemen as friendship circles, but commercially they increasingly resemble entertainment companies.

"The creative companies are moving towards a more Hollywood era where personalities still matter, but the infrastructure matters more," he said. "I suspect we'll see more creator collectives go through similar transitions as founders evolve, burn out, diversify or pursue separate ventures."

Legal considerations

Hughes said the departure is likely to have triggered several legal and commercial workstreams behind the scenes, with the most immediate questions centring on ownership and corporate structure.

“If the Sidemen operate through one or more companies – which, given the scale of their operations, they almost certainly do –  KSI's departure may require a formal exit from those entities,” he said. 

"That could involve a share buyback, a transfer of shares to the remaining members, or a restructuring of the group's holding arrangements. The valuation of KSI's interest in any shared entities will be a critical and potentially complex negotiation,” he added.

Beyond equity, intellectual property is likely to be another major consideration.

"There may be questions around content licensing – for example, whether KSI's likeness and past contributions can continue to be monetised by the Sidemen channel, and on what terms," Hughes said.

Revenue-sharing arrangements linked to existing content, merchandise and business ventures may also need to be reviewed, while any sponsorship agreements or contractual obligations connected to the wider Sidemen brand could require clarification.

Hughes added that competition issues can also arise when founders pursue new ventures after leaving a collective, particularly where future projects overlap with existing business activities.

Transatlantic lessons

Frank Poe, a lawyer at Poe Law PLLC, told The Daily Influence the situation also reflects broader questions creator businesses are increasingly grappling with as they become more valuable and attract outside investment.

He stressed that the specifics of KSI's arrangements are unknown, but said ownership structures typically become more important as creator businesses evolve from personality-led ventures into investable companies.

Under US copyright law, content created within the scope of employment is generally treated as a work for hire, meaning ownership rests with the company. However, founders often negotiate separate arrangements preserving certain rights or creating licensing structures that survive a departure. A creator's name, image and likeness typically remain their own, while trademarks associated with the collective are more likely to remain under company ownership.

"The more value that these collectives can show to private equity and outside interests, the more sophisticated the protections someone like KSI will look for when forming these collectives, and the more pressure a collective will feel to retain ownership of rights and maintain the consistent brand," Poe said.

He added that disputes of this nature are often resolved privately through settlement or arbitration, meaning the details rarely become public.

Planning for founder departures

As more creator businesses mature, the question of whether they can outlast their founders is becoming harder to ignore.

Hughes said the most developed operators are beginning to adopt governance mechanisms commonly seen in startups and established companies, including vesting schedules, shareholder protections and formal succession planning provisions.

The challenge, he said, is that many creator collectives were formed before such structures became commonplace.

"They were formed as informal groups of friends, and the legal and governance frameworks were either bolted on later or, in some cases, never properly established at all," Hughes said. "KSI's departure may well prompt the Sidemen – and other collectives watching from the sidelines – to revisit and strengthen their governance arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose as these groups continue to grow and mature."

Navarra said the industry's next phase will be defined by whether creator businesses can operate independently of the individuals who founded them.

"A decade ago, losing a founder could collapse the entire brand overnight," he said. "Nowadays the smartest creator businesses are being engineered for longevity and not dependency. The next generation of creators won't just need editors and managers – they'll need operators and governance and legal strategy and succession planning."