Twitter CEO Elon Musk and FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried.
The year 2022 was a chaotic one for companies. Twitter's ownership passed on to Elon Musk, who initiated wide-ranging layoffs and work culture and policy changes. FTX, once a trusted crypto company, imploded under Sam Bankman-Fried's leadership. In India, a CEO advised youngsters to work 18 hours a day, drawing backlash.
As we near the end of 2022, here is a look at the bosses who courted controversy this year.
1) Elon Musk
The Tesla CEO dominated headlines this year by first announcing his bid to buy Twitter and then trying to backout of the deal. The company took him to court and eventually, he had to honour the agreement.
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Soon after taking off, he sacked Twitter's top executives. Mass layoffs followed, that affected nearly half of the social network's 7,500 employees. Those who stayed were told to commit to a hardcore work culture.
Out on the social site, confusion prevailed as Twitter policy changes gave rise to impostor accounts. Musk's decision to reinstate accounts like Donald Trump was also criticised.
The crypto wunderkind's fortunes unravelled quickly this year as it emerged FTX lent billions of dollars worth of customer funds to its sister firm Alameda Research, that has a reputation of making risky bets.
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Damning reports emerged about the lack of transparency at the company run by Bankman-Fried and his inner circle from a luxe Bahamas address.
Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO in the middle of the FTX crisis and John J. Ray took over.
FTX's new CEO was among those who made scathing remarks about the company.
"Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here," Ray said about company.
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American biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison last month in the Theranos fraud case.
The case involves Holmes promising that certain self-service machines could conduct a variety of tests on just a few drops of blood. But a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that machines did not run as promised.
Holmes is pregnant and will not have to turn herself in till April next year, news agency AFP reported. Her lawyer suggested that she will appeal the sentence.
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Shantanu Deshpande, the CEO of personal care brand Bombay Shaving Company, started a huge row by saying youngsters should work 18 hours a day instead of trying to find work-life balance.
"Worship your work… Don't do random rona-dhona (cribbing). Take it on the chin and be relentless," he had said.
A flood of criticism was directed towards Deshapande for his comment, which came amid renewed focus on prioritising mental health over gruelling jobs.
He later issued an apology. "To those who were hurt by my post - apologies for the same. I recognise the need for nuance and context," the CEO said.
Ashneer Grover had a bitter exit from BharatPe earlier this year, following allegations of financial irregularities.
The Shark Tank India judge had publicly sparred with BharatPe's board over accusations that he and his family committed fraud to fund their lavish lifestyles.
(Image credit: ashneer.grover/Instagram)
Grover is now reported to be working to set up another start-up. He had hinted at the new project on his birthday in June.
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