To think the CEO caught at Coldplay resigning is a bit of a performance

I think this is probably the sticking point for me. Affairs are devastating to the families involved, of course, but I think people are a bit holier than thou proclaiming 'morality' and disrepute, when in this day and age there are many worse things than total strangers committing adultery. It all feels a bit witchhunty.

I feel really sorry for all the dc.

The CEO’s conduct affects stock prices- look at Tesla. It sounds like this man has a history of questionable work behaviour so the employees are probably better off with a new person in charge.

and yet despite Elons questionable behaviour which has impacted share prices he is still there.

People can think more than one thing is immoral at the same time?
So eg: I could be horrified by genocide but still think it is great that someone being personally unpleasant discovered FAFO.

Bought the company into disrepute also had a workplace relationship, which in many workplaces must be declared and, ironically, recorded with HR

Agree. They both showed spectacularly bad judgement. That was my first thought.

I imagine someone happily cheating on their spouse and flaunting their affair in public doesn't have the same level of concern for their family's feelings. Themselves, sure. But not their family.

@oudle Yes

The global humiliation and mockery is awful - you can't even say like we do with celebs that they chose to be in the spotlight and this goes with the territory.

Up to a point, but they did invite it, really. If you’re trying to be discreet about something, even if you’re not world famous, it’s not a wise move to be all over each other, at a public venue, in full view of everyone, where filming is taking place!

People like stories where the super rich are taken down a notch. Cheaters often don’t get their comeuppance either so this is funny to some.

I feel very sorry for the families, especially the kids who have to go to school and sit with people who could be making more memes but as it’s the summer holidays, hopefully there will be other stuff that people are talking about by the time that schools start next month. Dad is very rich so can lay low until things calm down then take a little renewed attention when people find out his next company.

Not dating co-workers is often a work contract clause. Haven’t you watched US tv series where people low down in the corporate hierarchy discuss having to declare their relationship to work? It’s called a morality clause but more of an insurance against being sued if the couple fall out and one claims the company has liability.

The CEO’s conduct affects stock prices- look at Tesla. It sounds like this man has a history of questionable work behaviour so the employees are probably better off with a new person in charge.

This incident has also been talked about by the manosphere who have focused on the angle that if you’re going to cheat, it should be with someone hotter.

I think it was because it was so public and went so viral. It puts the company and its employees in a really bad light, brings professional disrepute on the company, employees lives (even ones not directly involved) and their spouses are under speculation, general atmosphere of bad ethics, distrust and dishonesty etc. They have also been publicly humiliated. This will effect what their clients, their subordinates and their superiors think of them:

Also if the respective people in discussion with their spouses want to try and save their marriage or start afresh or never want to see their affair partner again, they may have to leave the company in order to save their marriage.

Basically, there is a multitude of reasons in a non-public affair alone why someone may need to leave a company after an affair is exposed. This one was 100 x worse as had all the public humiliation compounded with destruction of professional reputation compounded with the pain of their partners not finding out about this discretely and privately. As others have said, it’s basically made their positions untenable.

In business it’s about reputation.

If he has behaved in a way, in public, that could bring the company into disrepute the that is justifiable.

Reading between the lines, this is almost certainly not an isolated incident, and as a stakeholder I would be concerned about other missteps he has taken.

I believe that the statement was real and demonstrates his low emotional IQ.

In a way, isn't this how we would all like our cheating exes to be exposed - worldwide humiliation?

Is that why people are so happy about it?

They weren't "out on a date", they were there with colleagues on a company jolly.

As well as the issues others have raised like conflict of interest, it’s also possible that they were using their expense accounts to conduct their affair to pay for meals out together etc. we will probably never know but I’m not at all surprised he resigned. I think she will do do too but that the company wanted him to go first so it didn’t look like they were blaming her more than him.

In a way, isn't this how we would all like our cheating exes to be exposed - worldwide humiliation?

They shouldn't have had to resign, however, the brand damage done would make his position untenable

This, we have to declare relationships at work, we do one every year or if we were to enter a relationship with a work colleague. There are loads of married people or people in a relationship at my work they just don't report in to each other.
The CEO/HR connection could be seen as him influencing her work, favouring people or the sharing of confidential information about employees. I'm not saying she did or that he would but the rules are meant to protect us all.
It's a bit grim its an affair and it's all come out this way, I guess though that is a risk you take when having an affair.

The social media storm surrounding this is absurd. The public shaming has gone too far. If every person online were standing face to face making those comments, it would resemble what happens to adulterers in certain parts of the Middle East, just without the stoning. It has gone too far.

This

I think what is distasteful about it is they are out on a date. It was clearly not just a sexual relationship contained to the bedroom. They are spending time together, swaying to music at a concert while their spouses are in the dark. I wonder if both claimed to be on a work trip or that a late meeting had run over in the evening.

The social media storm surrounding this is absurd. The public shaming has gone too far. If every person online were standing face to face making those comments, it would resemble what happens to adulterers in certain parts of the Middle East, just without the stoning. It has gone too far.

I suspect it's this. It's crisis management from the company. They're in a PR nightmare because of this man.

They should look for a CEO with better judgement.

The real overplayed drama was the collective judgement of the entire internet on matters that have nothing to do with them, but they nevertheless wallow in a sanctimonious pit of their own collective schadenfraude.

He was already separated from his wife apparently, living separately so I find less issue with it tbh. I agree with you

Exactly. And also the question of his hiring her not so long ago..

@Daffodilsarefading

excellent point

If this had happened to me I honestly wouldn’t want to live anymore. The humilation and pain caused to my family would kill me.