60 Employees Leave Coinbase Over CEO’s Pledge To Be Apolitical

Topline

More than 60 Coinbase employees have taken an exit package after CEO Brian Armstrong said in a controversial blog post last month that the company would not participate in social activism.

Key Facts

Key Background

Armstrong’s controversial blog post last month prompted widespread backlash and debate over the role of politics at Silicon Valley companies. Armstrong argued that being political creates internal division and distracts from business. Yet many critics noted the irony of a cryptocurrency company, whose mission is inherently political, balking at challenging the status quo. Both Google and Facebook, too, have recently taken steps to further moderate internal debate on hot-button political issues.

Tangent

A recent poll found that 68% of Americans want CEOs to take a stand on social issues, with two-thirds of that group saying that leaders should do so on issues that don’t directly impact their business.