CEO slip-ups that left us cringing
For now the spotlights may all be on Microsoft Inc.’s Satya Nadella for his unfortunate advice about good karma and women seeking a raise.
Nadella was quick to apologize for his comments but it will likely take some time for him to live down that gaffe.
If it’s any consolation, he is not alone. No one, it seems, is immune from foot-in-mouth disease and there is no shortage of corporate leaders who at one time or another uttered some cringe-worthy comment.
Here are five examples.
In March this year, Snapchat co-founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel had to apologize for a set of emails he wrote some years ago to fellow Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers at Stanford University.
In the set emails, which found their way to Gawker’s Valleywag blog, he encouraged some fraternity members to get sorority women drunk in order to have sex with them.
“I am obviously mortified and embarrassed that my idiotic emails during my fraternity days were made public,” a now 23-year-old Spiegel said in a written response sent to CNN. “…I wrote them at a time I was a jerk to have written them. They in no way reflect who I am today or my views towards women.”
Many women will probably never forget or forgive for that matter, Canadian businessman and founder of yoga-inspired apparel Lululemon, Chip Wilson, for stating that “some women’s bodies just don’t work” for his company’s popular yoga pants.
Wilson made his apology via YouTube, saying “I’m sad, I’m really sad. I’m sad for the repercussions of my actions.” A month later, he resigned.
During a radio interview in 2013, Italian entrepreneur Guido Barilla, fourth generation chairman of Barilla, the world’s largest pasta maker, saiod he was not going to portray a gay family in any of his company`s advertisements. “I would never make a spot with homosexual family,” he said.
“If gays do not agree, they can always eat pasta from another manufacturer. All are free to do whatever they want provided it does not annoy others,” Barilla was quoted as saying in the broadcast.
The next day, Barilla apologized in a video. Many gay rights group called for a boycott.
(Image courtesy of Querrty.com)
In 2013, social deal-of-the-day site Groupon fired the company’s co-founder and CEO, Andrew Mason for what Mason called “controversial metrics” in Groupon’s Form S-1 filing with the Security and Exchange Commission.
But even before that, Mason had come under fire for a controversial Groupon Super Bowl spot that made light of the troubles of people in Tibet. The ad juxtaposed injustices in Tibet with a deal on fish curry.
“We thought we were poking fun at ourselves, but clearly the execution was off and the joke didn’t come through,” he wrote in a blog. “I personally take responsibility, although we worked with a professional ad agency, in the end, it was my decision.”
Founder of developer relations platform AngelHack, Gregory Gopman, posted a controversial rant on Facebook against homeless people and more.
In his lengthy post Gopman wrote: “I’ve travelled around the world and I gotta say there is nothing more grotesque than walking down market st. in San Francisco. Why the heart of our city has to be overrun by crazy, homeless, drug dealers, dropouts and trash I have no clue.”
In a separate post he also wrote: “The difference is in other cosmopolitan cities, the lower part of society keep to themselves. They sell small trinkets, beg coyly, stay quiet and generally stay out of your way.”
Gopman was eventually replaced as CEO and president of AngelHack. The company’s blog post states, he left his position in October 2013.
