On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015

Business Insider CTO has 'left the company'

Pax Dickinson, Business Insider's Chief Technology Officer has "left the company" after a long history of controversial tweets, the company announced in a statement.

It's not clear yet whether Dickinson was forced out or agreed to resign, but either way it's clear from his Twitter history that something was bound to happen eventually. Dickinson was known for writing tweets that many viewed as discriminatory.

feminism in tech remains the champion topic for my block list. my finger is getting tired. — Pax Dickinson (@paxdickinson) September 9, 2013

"misogyny" is "hatred of women". It is not misogyny to tell a sexist joke, or to fail to take a woman seriously, or to enjoy boobies. — Pax Dickinson (@paxdickinson) September 9, 2013

aw, you can't feed your family on minimum wage? well who told you to start a fucking family when your skills are only worth minimum wage? — Pax Dickinson (@paxdickinson) August 29, 2013

Who has more dedication, ambition, and drive? Kobe only raped one girl, Lebron raped an entire city. +1 for Lebron. — Pax Dickinson (@paxdickinson) July 13, 2010

Dickinson also directly challenged those who crticized his tweets:

@anildash really, dude? You know we work in the same building right? Would you like to come call me an asshole to my face tomorrow? — Pax Dickinson (@paxdickinson) September 9, 2013

Business Insider's statement is sparse and doesn't even mention Dickinson by name:

"A Business Insider executive has made some comments on Twitter that do not reflect our values and have no place at our company. The executive has left the company, effective immediately.

Business Insider's team is made up of more than 100 talented men and women of many backgrounds, and we highly value this diversity."

About 40 minutes after the statement, Dickinson changed his Twitter description from saying he was CTO at Business Insider to "The worst person in the world" and tweeted that he had "gained 850 twitter followers and +7 @klout in less than 24 hours" and was "now offering social media consulting services."

Hadas Gold is a reporter at Politico.