The Messenger, a news startup, abruptly shut down, leaving hundreds of employees without promised severance. CEO Jimmy Finkelstein is considering ways to assist fired staff, despite criticism for not paying severance earlier. Finkelstein admits to the company's failure but denies unrealistic spending levels.
New: Jimmy Finkelstein emails former Messenger employees notifying them that a trustee will take charge of the wind-down of the company. “I apologize for not being immediately responsive to some of your emails.” https://t.co/Q2UDBYvkje
NEW from me: Jimmy Finkelstein recently called his ex-Messenger employees' GoFundMe "wonderful" while shrugging off paying them severance, prompting some of them to describe him as a "Scooby-Doo villain" with "Lucille Bluth-style rich person delusion." https://t.co/NpilocXDHc
Messenger CEO Jimmy Finkelstein told Axios that he “might consider” helping out the hundreds of employees who are now out of a job with no severance. https://t.co/zUmbQzt0DZ
Another thing that kinda gets lost in the fog of the fallout is that in the days before The Messenger imploded, Finkelstein was telling the media that he already secured $10 million of additional funding. So by his own words at that time, he only needed to get another $10 mill. https://t.co/adQ4pFZsu9
Finklestein should have to pay 20 employee severances for every quote he gives about the failure of The Messenger https://t.co/dTZ3Eqsxn0
Jimmy Finkelstein reveals absurd The Messenger details, from LAT sale to profit plans to spending $20 million over six months with no website https://t.co/vwBUWusi7P https://t.co/zfOcppF8dX
Exclusive: The Messenger CEO Jimmy Finkelstein takes responsibility for the site's failure — but denies that his spending levels for the company were unrealistic. https://t.co/DpTaTvywoh
🚨🚨Exclusive: The Messenger CEO Jimmy Finkelstein explains his company’s quick demise and claims he’s rethinking denying EVERYONE severance https://t.co/NEtbRFk7Ux
part 2/ Exclusive: Messenger CEO Finkelstein says he's weighing severance options, may restore site https://t.co/GYb93Y6LkW
In an interview with Axios, Jimmy Finkelstein says he "might consider" paying severance to Messenger staffers impacted by the site's closure, calls their GoFundMe "wonderful," and insists he's "not concerned" about their class action lawsuit against him. https://t.co/3oqBF3TZxW
He could have shut the company down sooner and paid severance. He chose not to. He could use his personal wealth to pay severance now. He chooses not to. https://t.co/R70ap0tAHu
EXCLUSIVE: The Messenger's shutdown abruptly left hundreds of employees without work. Many had severance payments guaranteed in their contracts — but didn't receive them. Now, CEO Jimmy Finkelstein tells Axios he's considering ways to help fired staff. https://t.co/iewKUNGmfP
EXCLUSIVE: Messenger CEO Jimmy Finkelstein says he's weighing severance pay, reopening website https://t.co/RumNrT6IwY
EXCLUSIVE: The Messenger CEO Jimmy Finkelstein details how the shuttered news startup spent its way to oblivion https://t.co/XPqinLbeKQ
Former employees of the Messenger suggest that its CEO, Jimmy Finkelstein, was a big reason for the organization's downfall, @ErikWemple writes. "A guy who distracted and flustered his staffers with every last directive." https://t.co/L560pyM8Eg
When The Messenger shuttered, hundreds of employees were left high and dry. Ex-staffers are particularly incensed, The Daily Beast has learned, because an employee handbook promised severance in the event of mass layoffs or restructuring of the business. https://t.co/GCh7i4jfih