One was forced out after an espionage scandal. One left after allegations of workplace discrimination. One left after employee protests. Read more to find out.
2019 saw a record number of CEOs depart – either forced out or stepped down from their roles. This year, also, a slew of notable CEOs have left their roles. But here are three notable CEOs that left in the aftermath of either scandals, protests, criticism, outrage or controversy.
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam. Image by World Economic Forum on Wikimedia Commons
Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam
Last year, Switzerland’s second largest bank Credit Suisse found itself in the middle of an ‘espionage’ scandal. The scandal unfolded in September 2019 when the bank’s former wealth manager Iqbal Khan confronted private investigators who were tailing him through Zurich. The observation on Khan started shortly after he left Credit Suisse for rival bank UBS, because of his longstanding rocky relationship with the bank’s CEO Tidjane Thiam.
Soon after, the bank admitted to the spying, and held its COO Pierre-Olivier Bouée responsible. Bouée was soon fired with no payoff. The bank, however, stated that Thiam was unaware of the spying operation, and that Bouée had acted of his own accord.
But soon after, other instances of spying began to come to light. Peter Goerke, the former head of HR at Credit Suisse also reported being under surveillance after he left the bank. Credit Suisse Chairman Urs Rohner, who had initially supported Thiam, turned against the CEO after the second instance of spying was reported.
But the Black Lives Matter protests spelled trouble for the The Wing. A disturbing incident that took place last year exposed the startup’s failure to make its workspaces more inclusive, especially for women of color. In the incident, the startup allegedly failed to follow its own policies with regards to asking a white woman to leave the space after an instance of racism, and disregarded the discomfort of the Black women involved.
Amid the growing criticism and protests, Gelman resigned as the CEO in June. Months later, in a public letter on Instagram, Gelman acknowledged that her drive to achieve growth and personal success led her to “uphold the kind of societal inequality we set out to upend.”
“We had not subverted the historical oppression and racist roots of the hospitality industry; we had dressed it up as a kindler, gentler version,” she wrote. She apologized for her inaction and sounded her support for former staff and members who had been victims of the startup’s racist bias.
Away Co-founder and former CEO Steph Korey. Image courtesy of Away.
Away CEO Steph Korey
Direct-to-consumer luggage brand Away gained massive popularity among millennials and celebrities alike. The brand image was built around ideas of inclusive lifestyles and sublime travel experiences. But, within the walls of its office, a toxic growth and image-obsessed culture of intimidation and surveillance ran rampant, exposed by a Verge report last year. Forbes, however, published a piece sympathizing with Korey not long after.
Former CEO Steph Korey had originally stepped down in December 2019 after the publication of the Verge report drew outrage. She even sent an apology statement to CNBC, acknowledging that her comments were “wrong, plain and simple.” A month later, however, she backpedaled and decided to take on the role of Co-CEO, along with former Lululemon’s COO Stuart Haselden.
In late June, this year, Korey attacked digital media outlets in her Instagram stories, claiming that “misrepresentation is the business model” of these outlets. Korey was on maternity leave at the time. Her comments about the integrity of digital media outlets amid the heated Black Lives Matter protests, drew concern from employees. Several employees wrote an anonymous letter to Co-CEO Haselden and Co-founder Jen Rubio voicing their concerns.
While the world is battling an unprecedented global health crisis, these CEO departures have left an unpleasant mark in the world of business this year.
From taking risks to working hard, learn all about Elon Musk’s approach to business. Last week, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made headlines after he overthrew Jeff Bezos, the Founder and CEO of Amazon, to become the world’s richest person. Since March 2020, Tesla’s share price has soared by [...]
From tech giants that started off from a garage to the world’s largest submarine sandwich chain, here are 10 businesses that proved that you don’t need a huge investment to start a multi-million dollar business. There’s a widespread belief that you need a huge amount of investment to start [...]
Co-founder and President of DocDoc Grace Park talks about DocDoc’s advances in AI, and how data can bring empathy back into healthcare systems. Grace Park’s daughter was born healthy. But during her third month checkup, Park and her husband found that their child had jaundice and needed to [...]
When you are an entrepreneur and a mother – a ‘mompreneur’ – both your children and your business need equal attention. And often, it becomes difficult to prioritize. Being an entrepreneur is no piece of cake. Neither is raising a child. And doing both at the same time? That seems [...]
In recent years, YouTube has changed quite a bit – everything from demonetization to algorithmic adjustments – and some YouTubers are not happy. The word ‘YouTuber’ calls to mind a unique kind of fame and acclaim – one accessible to the people, normal-people antics far divorced from [...]
November 27, 2020
SIGN UP FOR JUMPSTART'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
For upcoming news, opportunities, giveaways and more!