eBay confirms that ex-CEO Devin Wenig is the person who allegedly ordered six eBay employees to initiate a cyberstalking campaign; Wenig is not being charged
Surveillance. Harassment. A live cockroach delivery. US attorneys have charged six former eBay workers in association with an outrageous cyberstalking campaign. Tweets: @karlbode , @wired , @lachlan , @erinbury , @themoko , @sm , @edzitron , @yoda , @bootsriley , @dancow , @s_m_i , @smod4real , @jasonhowell , @the_war_economy , @dandrezner , @pithywidow , @doree , @exumam , @philwahba , @katie_roof , @jamisonfoser , @brbarrett , @jmelaskyriazi , @thepaulofhaynes , @jigolden , @martinsfp , @campuscodi , and @mcwm Tweets: @karlbode : Bloomberg now reports that eBay's PR chief was also involved in sending a dead pig to a critical blogger: https://www.bloomberg.com/... @wired : UPDATE: We've confirmed that Executive 1 and Executive 2 mentioned in the eBay cyberstalking case are the company's former CEO and former chief communications officer: https://www.wired.com/... Lachlan Markay / @lachlan : So eBay's CEO, its head of communications, and its head of “safety and security” were all involved in a massive campaign of cyberstalking and intimidation against a critical blogger that included mailing her a dead pig https://www.bloomberg.com/... Erin Bury / @erinbury : But the craziest part is that the former CEO was in on it, and instructed staff to “take her down.” No changes laid against him. Can you IMAGINE going this far to get more positive press coverage?!! https://www.wired.com/... Jessica Powell / @themoko : So much judgement from all you PR folks, as if you haven't sent live cockroaches, a funeral wreath, or a bloody pig Halloween mask to a journalist after a bad article https://twitter.com/... Sara Mauskopf / @sm : Not only is this guy a super creep, he's also a very bad CEO. His idea of a turnaround for eBay is cyberstalking some randos. How do men like this always fail upwards? https://twitter.com/... Ed Zitron / @edzitron : All the pr people judging this like spamming reporters with irrelevant shit and calling them on the telephone is more respectable than sending dead animals via the mail https://twitter.com/... Drew Olanoff / @yoda : a) how is this asshat not being charged b) how often does this happen and we not know about it c) there always has to be a c https://twitter.com/... Boots Riley / @bootsriley : Let's be clear- they are gangsters even when they don't do this https://twitter.com/... Dan Nguyen / @dancow : The deliveries are horrible enough, but my GOD the time and effort from at least SIX senior managers and contractors - of eBay's “Safety & Security” team and “Global Intelligence Center” - into conspiring against a blogger couple from a Boston suburb: https://www.scribd.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Stacy-Marie Ishmael / @s_m_i : I'm amazed they actually did these things, but not surprised that they wanted to. So many tech execs really, seriously believe that anything other than regurgitating their press releases is an act of war. https://twitter.com/... Sweet Meteor O'Death / @smod4real : 1: What function does eBay's PR team serve? 2: They send dead pigs to critical bloggers 1: And eBay's global intelligence team? 2: They also send dead pigs 1: What about the global security- 2: -dead pigs https://twitter.com/... Jason Howell / @jasonhowell : What the actual F? This is one of those stories where, outside looking in, it's impossible to understand how anyone involved didn't have the foresight or ethical pang to remind them that this was a horrible idea with only bad outcomes for all involved. https://www.bloomberg.com/... @the_war_economy : Silicon Valley is a centre of morality. https://twitter.com/... Daniel W. Drezner / @dandrezner : This is the dumbest goddamn timeline. https://twitter.com/... Karen Schwartz / @pithywidow : Turns out a lot of tech people are huge creeps 🤔 https://twitter.com/... Doree Shafrir / @doree : it's like they always say, to succeed in corporate America it helps to be a sociopath https://twitter.com/... Andrew Exum / @exumam : If someone sent me a dead pig in anger because of something I wrote, the joke would be on them after about six to eight hours and lot of burned pecan wood. https://twitter.com/... Phil Wahba / @philwahba : What a culture they must have over there. Big clean up job for new CEO Jamie Iannone. https://twitter.com/... Katie Roof / @katie_roof : Jaw dropped https://www.bloomberg.com/... Jamison Foser / @jamisonfoser : You will not be shocked to learn that the former eBay head of communications in question is a Republican former Senate staffer. https://twitter.com/... Brian Barrett / @brbarrett : We've confirmed that Executive 1 and Executive 2 in that wild Ebay cyberstalking case are the company's former CEO and former chief communications officer https://www.wired.com/... John Melas-Kyriazi / @jmelaskyriazi : This story is absolutely insane. Mailing live cockroaches to critical bloggers is straight up psychopathic. https://twitter.com/... Paul Haynes / @thepaulofhaynes : Seriously, this is story INSANE. eBay execs DOXXED this couple, sent them live cockroaches, and then followed up with a sinister private message: “U get my gifts cunt!!??” Is this what they've been teaching in business schools? https://www.wired.com/... Jenna Golden / @jigolden : This is the most insane thing I have read in a long time. https://www.wired.com/... Martin Sfp Bryant / @martinsfp : “This thing goes right to the top!” https://twitter.com/... Catalin Cimpanu / @campuscodi : eBay's former CEO and CCO were also involved in that pig-sending cyber-stalking scandal. Wonder which one sent the pig and who sent the live cockroaches. https://twitter.com/... Mike Murphy / @mcwm : this story is i n s a n e https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Two days after US attorneys charged six former eBay employees for a months-long harassment campaign against the ECommerceBytes bloggers — cockroaches, porn, surveillance — eBay has confirmed that the order came from the top: ex-CEO Devin Wenig directed the six to act, though he is not among those criminally charged.
That distinction is the story. The civil suit the targets filed already named Wenig alongside the company, and Bloomberg reporting points to eBay's communications chief as involved too — so criminal accountability is landing on the operators while the chain of command is being established through documents and litigation instead.
First-order effects
- The six charged employees now stand alone in criminal court even as eBay itself confirms Wenig gave the order — a gap between who executed the campaign and who commanded it.
- Wenig remains exposed only through the pending civil suit, where the plaintiffs are pursuing him directly rather than waiting on prosecutors.
Second-order effects
- eBay's board inherits a governance problem: its own admission that a CEO ordered employees to stalk critics makes the company a co-defendant funding both sides of the same lawsuit.
- Every corporate security and communications team watching this case now has a template of what turns internal reputation management into federal charges — and how quickly 'executive directive' stops shielding subordinates.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — executives ordering harassment, operators taking the charges, civil suits reaching the corner office — boards will treat executive-directed surveillance campaigns as a personal-liability risk for CEOs, not just a PR cleanup cost.
The trend: Corporate harassment campaigns are migrating from internal scandals into criminal prosecutions and executive civil liability, forcing boards to police how security teams are weaponized.