Monday, March 4, 2013

Fired Groupon CEO Tells It Like It is

From my extremely limited knowledge of fired CEOs, it seems that many companies fire them in a very hush-hush manner. Rumors circulate around the office, people speculate about why he or she was fired, the whole nine yards. Most CEOs quietly hang their heads on their way out of their cushy position.

This was not the case for recently fired Groupon Founder and CEO Andrew Mason. After the company suffered a whopping 25 percent stock drop in it's first quarter report, Mason was quickly and seamlessly fired. While Mason was not exactly silent in response to his firing, he wasn't very upset about it either.

In a letter to his employees, Mason joked on choosing to leave the company to spend more time with his family (a long overused cover for being fired) and admitted that he was fired for making poor financial decisions. In the memo, he applauded his employees for their hard work and dedication and assured them that he was proud of Groupon as a whole.

Mason closed the letter with a piece of advice: "have the courage to start with the customer," and signed it with "I will miss you terribly."

What do you think of Mason's unconventional departing memo? Let us know!

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