CEO Fires 99 Employees, Goes Viral for Wrong Reasons

The CEO of the online instrument store, The Musician’s Club, fired almost all of his employees and freelancers (99 out of 110 workers) for missing an early meeting in a profanity-laden Slack message.

“For those of you who did not show up to the meeting this morning, consider this your official notice: you’re all fired,” the message from CEO Baldvin Oddsson reads, per the music-focused outlet, MusicTech.

“I gave you an opportunity to make your life better, to work hard, and to grow. Yet you have shown me that you don’t take this seriously. Out of 110 people, only 11 were present this morning. Those 11 get to stay. The rest of you are terminated,” the message continues. “Get the [f—] out of my business right now.”

MusicTech heard audio clips from internal meetings and verified the Slack conversations. An anonymous worker told the outlet there was “virtually no notice of a meeting.”

On Reddit, in a now-deleted post, a former intern said they joined the company in an unpaid cybersecurity role on November 15, and “an hour” after starting on their first day, the CEO fired most of the staff.

“The company is just a startup…[It] relies on remote interns,” the post said.

Despite the press and endless debates on LinkedIn about hiring unpaid staff (and then immediately firing them), Oddsson is not only standing behind his original message but doubling down in tone and substance.

Last week on LinkedIn, Oddsson posted, “Over the past weekend, I’ve received an overwhelming amount of attention—both positive and negative. While some attempted to ‘cancel’ me, it has completely backfired. Our traffic has surged to over 20,000 views, sales are at an all-time high, and we’re receiving hundreds of applications daily.”

“I’ve had more than 300 messages, including inquiries from CEOs, industry leaders, and major newspapers requesting interviews,” the post continues. “I stand by my decisions and the values we uphold. Firing those individuals was the right move for our organization, and we are stronger than ever.”

Fortune labeled it “rage firing,” a spin on the employee side of “rage quitting.”

If you called a last-minute morning meeting, and no one showed up, how would you handle the situation? According to Harvard Business Review, the No. 1 rule for managers (and life, really) is: “Don’t text when you’re angry. Ever.”

The outlet recommends never communicating “in the middle of any strong negative feeling” because the “subtleties of feeling are often lost in texts and emails” and “being a skillful communicator takes thoughtfulness.”