The P2P lender’s CEO had intended to leave at the end of the year – but he’s leaving effective immediately, amid swirling allegations of rampant sexual misconduct in the company
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The CEO of Social Finance (SoFi) has stepped down as controversy swirls around the social lender’s allegedly toxic culture.
SoFi CEO Mike Cagney announced earlier this week that he would step down at the end of the year. However, Cagney announced today that he was stepping down effective immediately. Executive Chairman Tom Hutton will serve as interim CEO.
At issue was SoFi’s work culture. A former employee has claimed in a lawsuit that he witnessed a female colleague being sexually harassed by managers, according to a HousingWire report. The employee, former senior operations manager Brandon Charles, claimed that he was fired for reporting the harassment to his superiors.
Cagney said in an email to employees that the company would take swift action against sexual harassment.
“To be blunt, that kind of behavior has no place at SoFi, and we’re not going to tolerate it,” he said.
But other employees claimed that Cagney was part of the problem. Laura Munoz, a former executive assistant at SoFi, received flirtatious or sexually explicit texts from Cagney for months, the New York Times reported. But when the company’s board was informed of the texts, it said it found no evidence of a sexual relationship between the pair and paid Munoz about $75,000 to leave the company, the Times reported.
Cagney, a married father of two, was also allegedly seen holding hands with another young female employee, and allegedly bragged within employees’ hearing about his sexual conquests.
Other executives were also allegedly part of what one former employee called a “frat house” atmosphere. The chief financial officer allegedly talked openly about women’s anatomies and offered female employees bonuses for losing weight, the Times reported. And some employees said they caught colleagues having sex with supervisors in the office.
The board has accepted Cagney’s resignation and the appointment of Hutton as interim CEO, according to HousingWire.
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SoFi CEO Mike Cagney announced earlier this week that he would step down at the end of the year. However, Cagney announced today that he was stepping down effective immediately. Executive Chairman Tom Hutton will serve as interim CEO.
At issue was SoFi’s work culture. A former employee has claimed in a lawsuit that he witnessed a female colleague being sexually harassed by managers, according to a HousingWire report. The employee, former senior operations manager Brandon Charles, claimed that he was fired for reporting the harassment to his superiors.
Cagney said in an email to employees that the company would take swift action against sexual harassment.
“To be blunt, that kind of behavior has no place at SoFi, and we’re not going to tolerate it,” he said.
But other employees claimed that Cagney was part of the problem. Laura Munoz, a former executive assistant at SoFi, received flirtatious or sexually explicit texts from Cagney for months, the New York Times reported. But when the company’s board was informed of the texts, it said it found no evidence of a sexual relationship between the pair and paid Munoz about $75,000 to leave the company, the Times reported.
Cagney, a married father of two, was also allegedly seen holding hands with another young female employee, and allegedly bragged within employees’ hearing about his sexual conquests.
Other executives were also allegedly part of what one former employee called a “frat house” atmosphere. The chief financial officer allegedly talked openly about women’s anatomies and offered female employees bonuses for losing weight, the Times reported. And some employees said they caught colleagues having sex with supervisors in the office.
The board has accepted Cagney’s resignation and the appointment of Hutton as interim CEO, according to HousingWire.
Related stories:
Fannie Mae, online lender partner to offer refi product to pay down student loans
How P2P lending could help finance tough mortgages
