EBay Ex-CEO's Text Triggered Scare Campaign With Cockroaches, Funeral Wreath
- Attempt to silence blogger after critical coverage, FBI says
- ‘Take her down,’ Wenig is alleged to have written to executive
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Last year, EBay Inc.’s then-Chief Executive Officer Devin Wenig fired off texts to a colleague expressing his ire over unflattering coverage by a blogger of his oversight of the e-commerce site. What followed, prosecutors said, was a criminal scheme by his underlings to cyber-stalk the couple behind the online newsletter.
Wenig isn’t charged in the case, but two former top EBay security executives and four other ex-employees were. While there’s no suggestion in court papers that Wenig knew of the plot, prosecutors say his angry emails triggered the scheme, and they play a central role in the narrative spelled out by the government.