Former eBay CEO, PR chief named in cyberstalking case that involved mailing victim a dead pig and live cockroaches
EBay's former CEO and communications chief were named in a federal indictment accusing company employees of a cringe-inducing cyberstalking case, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Neither of the former executives were charged with a crime, but Steven Wymer, who served as the ecommerce giant's head of public relations for part of 2019, did allegedly send a text message to CEO Devin Wenig last year stating "We are going to crush this lady," reportedly in reference to a newsletter writer who published a story about Wenig's compensation.
After the message was sent, six eBay employees allegedly launched a cyberstalking campaign in which they sent the victims — a couple — threatening and gruesome items, including live cockroaches, a funeral wreath, a book on surviving the death of a spouse, and a bloody pig Halloween mask. The indictment also alleges one of the victims received an email confirming a "preserved fetal pig" had been ordered online to be sent to their address.
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EBay said all the employees involved, including Wymer, have been fired. Read more at Bloomberg.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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