In a move that shocked both employees and onlookers, Baldvin Oddsson, CEO of The Musician’s Club, an online instrument retailer, fired 99 out of 110 employees and freelancers after they missed a single morning meeting.
This bizarre turn of events first surfaced through a Reddit post by an intern who had joined The Musician’s Club only hours before the mass dismissal. The post described the surreal moment when Oddsson, via Slack, terminated almost the entire team in one swoop after their absence from a scheduled meeting. The intern described the experience as deeply unsettling, writing, “I joined an internship, and an hour later, the entire team got fired.”
Further comments revealed the poor conditions under which the workers operated. The intern explained that all the employees were unpaid and worked remotely. Realizing the toxic environment they had entered, the intern deactivated their Slack account and left. While the terminations did not result in direct financial loss for the workers, the incident highlighted deeper issues of exploitation and mismanagement.
Oddsson’s response to the backlash has been unapologetic and brash. Rather than addressing the uproar with accountability, he turned the controversy into a personal brag. On LinkedIn, he framed the incident as a triumph, stating that the negative attention had brought increased traffic and sales to the business.
“While some attempted to ‘cancel’ me, it has completely backfired,” Oddsson wrote. “Our traffic has surged to over 20,000 views, sales are at an all-time high, and we’re receiving hundreds of applications daily.”
He continued to defend his actions, claiming, “Firing those individuals was the right move for our organization, and we are stronger than ever.” Oddsson’s hubris was also evident in his Slack messages to employees, where he curtly wrote, “I gave you an opportunity to make your life better. Get the f*** out of my business right now.”
While Oddsson’s actions stand out for their audacity, they are reflective of a broader trend of dismissive and authoritarian leadership in various industries. Recently, Washington Post CEO Will Lewis faced criticism for ending the company’s remote work policy without consulting employees, warning those who resisted that their jobs were at risk.
Similarly, Elon Musk made headlines for advertising unpaid internships through his self-declared Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling for “revolutionaries” willing to work 80+ hours a week without pay. These instances show a troubling pattern of CEOs exerting control over workers while disregarding their well-being.