“On the first day of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, the CEO of Twitter resigned, the CEO of Walmart resigned, the CEO of CNBC resigned”
CEOs did not resign en masse when Maxwell trial started
If your time is short
• Only the chief executive officer of Twitter stepped down, and there is no evidence that his departure is linked to the Ghislaine Maxwell case or trial.
• Walmart’s chief executive officer did not resign, and CNBC does not have a CEO position. The highest-ranking executive at CNBC, the chairman, did not resign.
A Facebook post falsely implies that the sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is linked to recent changes in U.S. corporate leadership.
The post reads, “On the first day of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, the CEO of Twitter resigned, the CEO of Walmart resigned, the CEO of CNBC resigned.”
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Only the chief executive officer of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, resigned. The CEO of Walmart did not resign, and CNBC, part of Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal media group, does not have its own chief executive officer position. CNBC’s top executive, the chairman, did not resign.
The trial for Maxwell, who is accused of helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse minors over several years beginning in the 1990s, began Nov. 29. The claim does not present evidence about how any corporate departure could be linked to the trial, and we did not find any news reports linking the events.
On Nov. 29, Dorsey announced his resignation from Twitter. He has faced pressure from investors for more than a year to step down, the Washington Post reported.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillion did not resign, a company spokesperson told the Associated Press. On Nov. 29, the company announced that its chief financial officer would “begin transitioning from Walmart” but would remain with the company until 2023.
CNBC’s chairman, Mark Hoffman, did not step down, and a company spokesperson called the claim “categorically untrue,” the AP reported.
Our ruling
A Facebook post says, “On the first day of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, the CEO of Twitter resigned, the CEO of Walmart resigned, the CEO of CNBC resigned.”
The chief executive officer of Twitter resigned on Nov. 29, the day the Maxwell trial began. He was under pressure from investors to do so, and we did not find any news reports linking his departure with the Maxwell trial.
Walmart’s CEO did not resign, and neither did the head of CNBC.
We rate this claim Mostly False.
Our Sources
Associated Press, "Posts distort facts of high-profile company departures," Dec. 1, 2021
CNBC, "CNBC Leadership Team," accessed Dec. 2, 2021
Facebook post, Nov. 30, 2021
New York Times, "What Happened on the First Day of the Ghislaine Maxwell Trial," Nov. 29, 2021
Walmart, "Company News," accessed Dec. 2, 2021
Washington Post, "In a surprise tweet, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he’s stepping down," Nov. 29, 2021
