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In a late-night social media post, Tan wrote 'Die slow motherfuckers' directed at seven San Francisco supervisors (Aaron Peskin, Dean Preston, Shamann Walton, Myrna Melgar, Hillary Ronen, Ahsha Safaí, Connie Chan). He later claimed it was a reference to a Tupac song and apologized. Police reports were filed and copycat threatening letters were sent to supervisors' homes.

On January 27, 2024, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan posted on X/Twitter at 12:25 AM wishing seven San Francisco Board of Supervisors members would 'die slow motherfuckers,' targeting progressive supervisors Dean Preston, Connie Chan, Aaron Peskin, Shamann Walton, Myrna Melgar, Hillary Ronen, and Ahsha Safai. The post led to threatening letters sent to supervisors' homes, multiple police reports filed, and widespread condemnation. Tan later apologized, claiming the post referenced a Tupac Shakur song 'Hit Em Up,' but acknowledged it 'wasn't a good call.'

In January 2024, Swiggy cut about 400 jobs (7% of workforce) ahead of its planned IPO, following 400 layoffs in early 2023. Sources said there was 'immense pressure' from investors Prosus and SoftBank to show profitability before filing IPO prospectus. The layoffs affected tech and operations teams. Investment bankers held that Swiggy needed to beat rival Zomato on many metrics for good valuation.

SAP announced restructuring affecting 8,000-10,000 positions under its 'Next Level Transformation' program, investing nearly €1B in AI as justification. The European Works Council accused SAP of using the program as a 'euphemism' for layoffs, stating management 'did not adequately justify the business logic.' 4,100 jobs affected in Europe including 2,600 in Germany. Employee engagement index target was lowered from 76-80% to 70-74%. By April 2025, only 3,000 had departed and SAP paused further cuts.

In January 2024, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees from its gaming division, including roles at Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Xbox Game Studios. The FTC argued these cuts violated assurances Microsoft made during the acquisition review, where the company claimed the merger would be vertical (not requiring layoffs). FTC lawyer Imad Abyad cited that layoffs to address 'areas of overlap' directly undermined Microsoft's vertical acquisition claims. Former FTC Chair Lina Khan stated the acquisition 'has been followed by significant price hikes and layoffs, harming both gamers and developers.'

ASML CEO Peter Wennink expressed concerns about Dutch political decisions limiting work immigration, saying such measures could have major consequences for ASML, which employs over 9,000 non-Dutch nationals (40% of its 22,860 Dutch employees). The Dutch government responded with 'Project Beethoven' and pledged €2.5 billion in infrastructure and education to prevent ASML from leaving.

Under Bezos's leadership, Amazon developed and deployed an extensive employee surveillance system in its warehouses. In January 2024, France's CNIL fined Amazon France Logistique EUR 32 million ($35M) for an 'excessively intrusive' surveillance system that tracked worker scanner inactivity with such precision that employees could be required to justify any break lasting just minutes. U.S. Senators Blumenthal, Booker, Markey, Sanders, and Warren wrote to Bezos warning that Amazon's AI camera surveillance of delivery drivers could 'dramatically decrease Americans' ability to work, move, and assemble in public without being surveilled.' Amazon also faced criticism for its Ring doorbell partnerships with police and its Rekognition facial recognition system sold to law enforcement.

In January 2024, 300 Grab delivery riders protested in Malaysia after base fare was cut from RM5 to RM4, with wages dropping from RM7 to around RM3.50. In August 2024, thousands of motorcycle taxi workers struck in Jakarta with Gojek workers. In September 2025, two Grab drivers in Indonesia were killed during nationwide protests, with CEO Anthony Tan visiting the families and providing 2 years of health coverage.

Relatives of over 60 young people who died from fentanyl overdoses sued Snap Inc., alleging Snapchat's disappearing messages feature facilitated illegal drug trade targeting minors. Victims included Cooper Root (16, Texas), Donevan Hester (16, Washington), and Nicholas Cruz Burris (15, Kansas). In January 2024, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff allowed the lawsuit to proceed, overruling Snap's objections to 12 claims including negligence, defective product, and wrongful death. Internal Snap emails cited in court noted the company received approximately 10,000 sextortion reports per month, described as 'only a fraction of the total abuse.'

Peter Thiel, co-founder of Founders Fund, has maintained a consistent 35+ year opposition to diversity and multiculturalism, from founding The Stanford Review in 1987 to explicitly criticizing DEI programs in 2024. In a January 2024 speech at Notre Dame, Thiel addressed DEI and culture wars. His 2009 Cato Institute essay 'The Education of a Libertarian' laid out positions that critics say prefigured the current anti-DEI movement. As of 2025, Founders Fund has minimal female leadership among its partners. The fund's talent pipeline draws heavily from homogeneous networks rooted in Thiel's Stanford Review circle, which critics describe as reinforcing a 'white, male, conservative' ecosystem.

Elon Musk has repeatedly attacked DEI programs on X/Twitter, calling them 'discrimination' and 'just another word for racism.' He endorsed ending corporate DEI initiatives and has promoted anti-DEI content, amplifying the movement against diversity programs in tech and corporate America.

In 2024, Ant Group announced changes to shareholder voting rights that reduced Jack Ma's voting control from 50% to 6%, meaning he was no longer the actual controller of Ant Group. The restructuring came as part of ongoing Chinese government pressure following the 2020 IPO cancellation. Ma replaced SoftBank as Alibaba's largest shareholder in early 2024 but continued to face government oversight.

In January 2024, Palantir co-founders Peter Thiel and Alex Karp met with Israeli defense officials and signed an upgraded strategic partnership agreement with the Ministry of Defense. Executive VP Josh Harris stated both parties were "doubling down" on AI-based military systems. The partnership was signed during the Gaza conflict. A UN special rapporteur later found "reasonable grounds" that Palantir was complicit in violations of international law regarding the conflict.

In January 2024, a Cloudflare sales employee filmed her termination meeting and posted it to TikTok, where it went viral with millions of views. The video showed HR representatives unable to explain why she was being let go. CEO Matthew Prince responded acknowledging the company 'could have done this differently' but also called the employee's performance insufficient.

Jack Dorsey's philanthropic initiative #startsmall donated $10 million to Freedom of the Press Foundation in January 2024 to support press freedom and transparency efforts.

In January 2024, Discord laid off 170 employees (17% of its workforce) as the company sought to reach profitability. CEO Jason Citron acknowledged the company had grown its workforce 5x since 2020 and taken on too many projects. This followed a smaller round of approximately 40 layoffs (4% of workforce) in August 2023. Those laid off received five months of salary plus an additional week per year of service, along with five months of benefits continuation. The company had raised approximately $1 billion in venture capital but remained unprofitable.

SAP agreed to pay over $220 million to the DOJ and SEC to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by making improper payments to government officials in South Africa and Indonesia between 2013-2018. The settlement included a criminal penalty of $118.8M and administrative forfeiture of over $103M. Bribes included cash payments, political contributions, and luxury goods.

In January 2024, major shareholders including Prosus voted to remove founder Byju Raveendran as CEO during an extraordinary general meeting, seeking resolution of 'outstanding governance, financial mismanagement and compliance issues.' Raveendran and family members did not attend. Earlier in June 2023, auditor Deloitte and three board members had severed ties over governance concerns. The company's valuation collapsed from $22 billion to zero.

Sage Group has maintained and expanded its DEI programs with specific measurable goals: achieving gender parity in VP+ roles globally by 2025, 25% representation of underrepresented groups in VP+ roles in North America, and 13% Black employees at all levels in the US for hiring managers. The company operates multiple Colleague Success Networks for Black, LatinX, Asian employees and gender equality.

Sage Group has an official corporate policy prohibiting any contributions to or gifts from government officials, political parties, campaigns, organizations, or individuals involved in politics. All charitable donations must go through the Sage Foundation. This policy is published on their investor relations governance page.

Softcat became the first IT company in Europe to receive Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approval for net-zero targets, and one of only 35 companies globally. Also the first FTSE 250 company to achieve 5-star sustainability status. Targeting carbon net-zero supply chain by 2040.

Multiple investigations and employee accounts document toxic work culture at Revolut, including 13-hour workdays, weekend work expectations, and high staff turnover. One employee reported: 'I left because I ended up having mental health problems... daily panic attacks... ended up in hospital.' The CEO's 'get shit done' culture has reportedly driven employees out. Company hired psychologists and created new teams to address culture.

ASML canceled shipments of some machines to China at the request of US President Biden's administration, weeks before export bans came into effect. US officials reached out to ASML to ask them to immediately halt pre-scheduled shipments to Chinese customers. China revenue dropped from 29% of sales to expected 20% in 2025 due to export controls.

Canva offers free access through Canva for Education and Canva for Nonprofits programs, reaching over 100 million teachers and students and 860,000 nonprofit organizations across 190 countries. The total value of product donated exceeded $1 billion, with an annualized value of approximately $1.5 billion. Canva joined Pledge 1% in 2019, committing 1% of profit, equity, product, and employee time to communities.

Palo Alto Networks received a perfect score of 100 on The Disability Equality Index (2022) and earned its third consecutive 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index for LGBTQ Equality. The company states it is a 'fair pay company: validated by external audit year over year' with no differential in promotions for underrepresented talent.

Through a partnership with GiveDirectly, Canva Foundation donated $50 million USD for unconditional digital cash transfers to people living in extreme poverty in Malawi. The program enabled approximately 84,000 recipients to receive about $550 each. Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht pledged 30% of their Canva equity to the Foundation and committed to donating 80% of their personal fortune.

Stripe invested in diversity, equity, and inclusion through a dedicated organizational infrastructure led by Valerie Williams as global head of diversity and inclusion. The company supports nine employee resource groups (Stripe Communities), actively recruits for DEI program management roles, and partners with recruiting teams to expand pipeline diversity. As of late 2024, Stripe's Glassdoor DEI rating stood at 3.7/5 based on 806 employee reviews, equal to the IT sector average.

Tencent's WeChat platform employs sophisticated AI-powered content moderation that censors politically sensitive content for Chinese users, including discussions of Tiananmen Square, Xinjiang, Tibet, and criticism of Chinese leadership. Research has shown WeChat also surveils communications of users outside China to train its censorship algorithms, affecting global users who communicate with contacts in China.

TSMC has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company aims for 100% renewable energy use at production sites and has invested in water recycling and emissions reduction technologies across its manufacturing facilities.

In early 2024, Spotify implemented a new policy requiring tracks to reach at least 1,000 streams per year before generating any royalty payments. The company framed this as an anti-fraud measure, but independent musicians and advocacy groups criticized it as de-monetizing tens of thousands of small artists while redirecting their royalty share to major labels and top-performing acts. The policy particularly impacts niche genres, emerging artists, and musicians in developing countries.