Top 20 Wildly Out of Touch CEO Moments

#20: McDonald's Chris Kempczinski Can't Stomach “Product”

If you’re going to be CEO of a company, you need to believe in what you’re selling. Unfortunately for McDonald’s Kempczinski, he seemingly doesn’t. In 2026, with the fast-food chain releasing the Big Arch burger, Kempczinski uploaded a video of himself on social media as he tried it out. However, rather than inspire others to consume it, people mocked him. On top of Kempczinski taking the smallest bite possible while claiming it was big, he was also mocked for referring to the hamburger as a “product,” making it as unfood-like as possible. Not only were the general public parodying Kempczinski, but so did other fast-food chains, such as Burger King’s president, Tom Curtis.

#19: Bank CEO’s Credit Cards Criticism

If you have a product with a company, the worst thing possible to hear is probably its boss stating they don’t use it and then heavily criticizing it. Well, in 2003, that’s what happened with the credit card customers of Barclaycard, owned by Barclays. The then-chief executive of the bank, Matthew Barrett, was appearing at the UK’s Commons Treasury to answer questions about rising household debt and issues with credit cards. He stated that he doesn't use the plastic method as it’s “too expensive.” He also mentioned deterring his children from using credit cards and racking up charges. Unsurprisingly, customers were furious. So much so that in 2004, Barclaycard offered the UK public fixed-rate loans to replace their credit card debt.

#18: Snapchat CEO Allegedly Claims App Isn't for Poor Countries

After being fired as Snapchat’s head of growth, Anthony Pompliano issued a wrongful termination lawsuit in 2017, claiming that the company had lied about its metrics. Yet within his evidence was an accusation that made the company’s CEO and co-founder, Evan Spiegel, look super bad. Yikes. Immediately, Snapchat denied Pompliano’s claims by stating that the platform was for “everyone.” However, that didn’t stop furious Indians from uninstalling the app. In 2018, a judge forced Pompliano’s case into private arbitration.

#17: Papa John’s CEO Blaming Sales on NFL Protests

After founding the Papa John’s pizza franchise in 1984, John Schnatter has been a constant chairman on the board and, beyond a brief stint away, its CEO. However, in 2017, the snowball of consequences began to roll down the hill. During an investor’s call, Schnatter shifted the blame for the company’s poor financial performance with a bizarre logic leap. He claimed the fault was NFL players protesting the national anthem. As Papa John’s stock fell, Schnatter resigned as CEO, staying on as the board’s chairman. However, in 2018, Schnatter uttered a racial slur during a diversity training call, forcing him to resign from the board. He didn’t help himself when he went all supervillain in 2019 by claiming Papa John’s “day of reckoning will come.”

#16: Miss America CEO Mocks Contestants

As a business that specializes in pageants, you’d expect it to treat its contestants with respect due to relying on them. However, not Miss America’s CEO, Sam Haskell. In 2017, reports about leaked emails emerged between him and other board members and higher-ups that mocked the participants. The years of emails referred to the contestants with derogatory language, insults, and petty remarks. They even made jokes about violence towards the prospective Miss Americas. Understandably, many winners and former participants signed a letter calling for the people involved to resign. While Miss America tried to excuse Haskell’s behavior due to his being under distress from personal attacks on his family, the outrage led to him and the others involved resigning from the pageant

#15: Twitter is Tricky for Its CFO

Before Elon Musk got his paws on the social media site and renamed it X, Twitter was under the leadership of Anthony Noto as its CFO. As such, it’s reasonable to assume he’d know how the platform worked. But no. In 2014, Noto tweeted to the public that the company had plans to purchase another business. While he quickly deleted it, the message was screenshotted. Noto initially claimed he was hacked. However, the wording suggested it was meant to be a DM, not a public tweet, which he later confirmed to be the case. In 2015, irony got involved as Noto’s account was actually hacked. In 2018, Noto would depart the company to become CEO of SoFi.

#14: Jim Ratcliffe's Incorrect Immigration Facts

England’s Ratcliffe is a puzzle of contradictions. After supporting the UK leaving the EU, the Ineos founder and CEO then moved to tax-free Monaco. In 2023, after failing to buy Chelsea football club, he purchased a 25% stake in his “boyhood” team, Manchester United. After gaining a reputation as a penny-pincher by making lots of cuts, Ratcliffe decided to attack another demographic in 2026 by claiming the UK had been colonized by immigrants. To add weight, Ratcliffe provided several figures, the majority of which were factually incorrect. As such, he was heavily criticized by supporters of United, who have a worldwide fanbase, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Ratcliffe released a non-apology statement, where he said he was sorry for his language offending some people.

#13: Abercrombie & Fitch is Only for Hotties

Back in the day, it wasn’t unusual to see shirtless male models standing outside Abercrombie & Fitch stores to lure people inside. This policy was brought in by the brand’s CEO, Mike Jeffries, and with his history, it’s not surprising. In 2013, a 2006 interview he did with Salon resurfaced. He admitted that the company was exclusionary, stating the fashion giants only hired good-looking people, as that’s who they wanted to sell to. As such, Abercrombie & Fitch also didn’t carry clothes in larger sizes. While Jeffries backtracked following backlash and the company’s stock price falling, the writing was on the wall as he lost his job in 2014. Jeffries drew further scandal in 2024 when he was indicted on trafficking charges.

#12: Campbell's Soup is For Poor People

In 2024, Robert Garza, a former worker at the canned soup company Campbell’s, issued a lawsuit against the group for unfair dismissal after he reported an executive’s dreadful behavior to higher-ups. The executive turned out to be Campbell’s vice president and Chief Information Security Officer, Martin Bally. Garza accused Bally of making racist comments about Indians during a meeting and stating that he doesn’t buy his own company’s products, describing it as food for poor people, and claimed the chicken Campbell’s used was 3-D printed. Unfortunately for the VP, Garza had recorded his rant. After Bally was briefly placed on leave while the company investigated the allegations, he was then dismissed from the soup giants.

#11: WeWork CEO Adam Neumann's Lavish Spending

Often described as “eccentric,” Neumann was co-founder and CEO of the working space company, WeWork. However, while the company had mass purgings of employees, he would lavishly spend $60 million of the company’s cash on a private plane. During one firing in 2016, after announcing firings and not reading the room, Neumann then presented to the now-unemployed folks a gig by Run DMC’s Darryl McDaniels. We can only imagine Neumann requested that McDaniels start the gig with “It’s Tricky,” before getting serious with “It’s Like That,” and ending by leading the stunned employee to the door as he sang “Walk This Way.” Following Neumann’s negative reputation and WeWork hemorrhaging money, he was forced to resign in 2019. His jet was then put up for sale.

#10: Don’t Like Your Commute? Find Another Job, Says Jamie Dimon

In the post-pandemic world, as many companies grappled with hybrid work models and the general reluctance of employees to return to the office full-time, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon was a vocal proponent of getting back to the cubicle. Amidst this push, the multi billionaire executive brushed off employee concerns. Said Dimon, “I completely understand why someone doesn't want to commute an hour and a half every day, totally got it. Doesn't mean they have to have a job here either.” This sentiment inadvertently highlighted the chasm between the daily realities of the average worker and the gilded cage existence of a top-tier CEO.

#9: Marissa Mayer Fails to Embrace the Future

Back in 2013, as Yahoo! was struggling to find its footing and the concept of remote work was slowly being mainstreamed, then-CEO Marissa Mayer made a controversial call. She abruptly ended the company's work-from-home policy, mandating that all employees return to the office, arguing it was essential for “collaboration” and “innovation” to turn the company around. This rigid stance was met with widespread criticism, painting Mayer as a leader out of touch with modern workplace flexibility and the growing desire for work-life balance. Despite the bold move, the forced return to physical offices ultimately did little to revive Yahoo!’s flagging fortunes, further cementing the perception that the decision was more about control than true productivity.

#8: McDonald’s CEO Suggests That Poor Financial Planning, Not Low Wages, Is the Problem

When McDonald’s, a global giant built on the backs of its low-wage workers, attempted to offer financial advice, it predictably went sideways. Back in 2013, a budget planner created by the fast-food chain for its employees, under the tenure of CEO Don Thompson, became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons. The proposed budget was spectacularly unrealistic, failing to account for basic living expenses like food or suggesting that employees hold multiple jobs to make ends meet. This infamous planner showcased a glaring disconnect between the corporate suite and the harsh economic realities faced by the very people flipping their burgers.

#7: Wayfair’s Return to Prosperity Comes At Its Employees’ Expense

At the end of 2023, Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah sent an email to employees celebrating the company's return to profitability, which should have been a moment of collective relief. However, the message quickly veered into a different, more demanding territory. Shah explicitly told his workforce that they should “expect long hours” and “blend work and life” to ensure continued success, effectively framing an unhealthy work culture as a positive outcome. This statement was widely perceived as tone-deaf, suggesting that employees' personal lives should be subsumed by corporate demands, rather than acknowledging the need for sustainable work-life balance. It drew criticism for celebrating burnout rather than rewarding hard work with better conditions.

#6: Herman Miller CEO Books Employees a One-Way Ticket Out of “Pity City”

During a virtual town hall meeting, MillerKnoll CEO Andi Owen found herself at the center of a firestorm after addressing employee concerns amidst rising inflation. Owen urged employees to stop worrying about potential missed bonuses and instead focus on achieving the company’s financial goal of $26 million. The backlash was swift and intense. After the video spread online, critics slammed Owen for being dismissive and out of touch with her workers’ financial struggles. Within days, MillerKnoll employees and the public demanded accountability, noting the CEO’s multimillion-dollar pay. Owen issued an internal apology, claiming her comments were misinterpreted, but the damage to her reputation was done.

#5: Braden Wallake Finds Out How Much His Tears Are Really Worth

HyperSocial CEO Braden Wallake went viral in 2022 after posting a tearful selfie on LinkedIn following layoffs at his company. In the post, Wallake expressed regret and heartbreak over letting employees go, claiming he felt personally responsible. The image quickly spread across social media, where reactions were sharply divided. Critics accused him of turning employee hardship into a self-promotional spectacle, calling the post tone-deaf. Others defended Wallake for showing emotional vulnerability in a corporate world that often discourages it. He later clarified that his intent was to acknowledge the pain of leadership decisions, not to seek sympathy. Not that that mattered to online commentators, who cringed at Wallake’s perceived performativity.

#4: Michael Rapino Doesn’t Think You’re Paying Enough for Concert Tickets

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino managed to anger pretty much everyone after claiming that concert tickets are actually “underpriced,” arguing that fans still pay less for live music than for sports events. Critics blasted the billionaire executive for being tone-deaf amid inflation and rising costs for concertgoers, especially given his company’s dominance through Ticketmaster. Artists like Jack Antonoff publicly condemned the remarks as “heartbreaking,” calling for bans on ticket resales above face value. Rapino defended his comments by citing higher production expenses and relatively low average ticket prices. The controversy erupted just as Live Nation and Ticketmaster faced renewed federal scrutiny over alleged anti-competitive and deceptive practices.

#3: After A Monumental Scandal, Tony Hayward Only Had Himself In Mind

In the aftermath of the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which devastated the Gulf Coast, costing lives and livelihoods, BP CEO Tony Hayward delivered one of the most infamously insensitive corporate comments in recent memory. As millions of gallons of oil spewed into the ocean and countless communities faced economic ruin, Hayward made a public declaration he instantly regretted. The statement instantly sparked widespread outrage, perfectly encapsulating a profound disconnect between the personal inconvenience of a wealthy executive and the immense suffering of those directly impacted by the environmental disaster. It became a symbol of corporate arrogance and a stunning lack of empathy, ultimately contributing to Hayward's premature departure from the company.

#2: The Real Reason Blockbuster Fell to Netflix

Back in the early 2000s, when Netflix was a fledgling DVD-by-mail service and Blockbuster Video ruled the rental market, Netflix founder Reed Hastings actually offered to sell his company to Blockbuster for a mere $50 million. The story goes that Blockbuster CEO John Antioco, along with other executives, reportedly “laughed [them] out of the room.” Antioco purportedly saw Netflix as a niche business, scoffing at their subscription model and failing to grasp the revolutionary potential of streaming and direct-to-consumer delivery. This monumental misjudgment, rooted in a staunch belief in their seemingly impenetrable brick-and-mortar empire, allowed Netflix to not only survive but thrive, eventually becoming a global entertainment giant, while the once-iconic video rental chain filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

#1: iPhone Is Temporary. BlackBerry Is Forever. Not.

In the mid-2000s, BlackBerry was the undisputed king of the corporate smartphone world, synonymous with productivity and security. So, when Apple unveiled the original iPhone in 2007, BlackBerry's leadership infamously dismissed it as little more than a “toy.” Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis initially wrote off the touchscreen device, confident that their physical keyboard and enterprise-focused features would continue to dominate. They failed to grasp the paradigm shift the iPhone represented: a focus on user experience, a vibrant app ecosystem, and an intuitive interface that would redefine mobile computing. This profound inability to foresee the iPhone's disruptive power, borne from an almost arrogant belief in their own established success, ultimately sealed BlackBerry’s fate.

What other out-of-touch CEO moments did we miss from the video? Let us know below!

CNBC News

https://youtu.be/DBacqrQVZJQ - 2007 news segment featuring Steve Ballmer laughing at the iPhone