Greg Selkoe
Greg Selkoe | |
|---|---|
| Education | Master's degree |
| Alma mater | Rollins College Harvard Kennedy School |
| Occupation | CEO of XSET |
| Years active | 2000-present |
Greg Selkoe is an American entrepreneur and founder of XSET. He previously founded the streetwear e-commerce company Karmaloop and served as the president of FaZe Clan.
Early life and education[edit]
Selkoe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 6, 1975, and grew up in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood. He was expelled from The Park School and attended other public and private schools before graduating from The Winchendon School, a boarding school in Winchendon, Massachusetts.
Selkoe received a Bachelor of Arts from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in 1996. After graduating from Rollins, he worked for the City of Boston for three years at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. He then went on to earn a master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University in 2005. Selkoe is also an alumnus of Y Combinator, a renowned Silicon Valley startup accelerator that provides funding, mentorship, and resources to help early-stage startups succeed, with a track record of funding over 5,000 companies that have gone on to achieve significant success, including some of the most valuable tech companies in the world
Selkoe is the son of Dennis J. Selkoe, a physician known for his research into the molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease, and Polly Selkoe.
Career[edit]
Karmaloop[edit]
In 2000, at the age of 25, Selkoe founded Karmaloop from his parents' basement in Jamaica Plain while working as an urban planner with the Boston Planning & Development Agency. Karmaloop began as a streetwear e-commerce company and expanded into a brick-and-mortar store that opened in Boston in 2005. It later grew into the world's largest online streetwear retailer.
Under Selkoe's leadership, Karmaloop became a lifestyle network and global hub for "Verge Culture," with over 8 million monthly visitors and 940 million engaged social media followers. For his work with Karmaloop, Selkoe received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012 Award in the e-commerce category in New England.
In 2016, Shiekh Shoes acquired Karmaloop.
Streetwear[edit]
In June 2015, Greg partnered with Paul Judge and Cedric Rogers to create Curateurs, a website devoted to exclusive men’s fashion items. Curateurs then evolved into Looklive, a startup that sold the apparel seen on TV shows. In 2016, Looklive announced an investment from Y Combinator and the launch of the Looklive app.
In 2017, Selkoe launched Wanderset.com, a men's fashion brand website.[7] The same year, he became the president of FaZe Clan, where he worked until 2020. He cited his reason for leaving as the male-centric gaming culture at the company, which did not reflect racial and gender diversity. He went on to found XSET, where he now works as the company's CEO.
XSET[edit]
In 2020, Selkoe founded the lifestyle brand XSET with Marco Mereu, Clinton Sparks, and Wil Eddins. As CEO of XSET, Selkoe aimed to create a more inclusive and diverse gaming organization that reflected the racial and gender diversity of the gaming world.
Under Selkoe's leadership, XSET rapidly expanded into multiple esports titles, including Fortnite, Rocket League, Call of Duty, and Apex Legends. The organization has since branched into fashion, music, and traditional sports, partnering with major brands and personalities across these industries.
Some of XSET's notable moves include acquiring Queens Gaming Collective in 2023 to further its diversity and inclusion initiatives, signing professional Fortnite player and Twitch streamer with over 7.5+ million subscribers as of May 2024, Cody "Clix" Conrod, popular content creators like Kris London and CashNasty, and securing investments from entities like Quality Control Music and several NFL players.
Selkoe has positioned XSET as a gaming and lifestyle media brand focused on authenticity and creating unique experiences for its community. The company maintains a strong presence across cultural touchpoints, from gaming residencies in Las Vegas to activations at music festivals.
Philanthropy[edit]
Throughout his career, Selkoe has been involved in various philanthropic efforts. He sat on the board of the Kanye West Foundation, contributed to the Boston Public Health Commission's youth anti-violence programs, and was a spokesperson for the Vote for Change campaign during the 2008 presidential election. Selkoe also founded the Future Boston Alliance in 2011 to improve cultural life in Boston and retain local creative talent.
Personal Life[edit]
Selkoe currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife, Dina Selkoe, and their two children.