Fact check: False claim that 28 CEOs have stepped down during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial – USA TODAY

The claim: More than 20 CEOs have stepped down during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial

Ghislaine Maxwell’s federal sex trafficking trial has spawned a rash of misinformation on social media – including conspiracy theories about some of the country’s top companies.

 A Dec. 4 Facebook post includes a list of more than 20 CEOs that have purportedly stepped down during Maxwell’s trial, which began Nov. 29 in New York.

“MORE TO COME!!!!” reads text in the post, which accumulate more than 4,000 shares in a week. “PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!!”

Among those who have purportedly stepped down: the chief executives of Disney, Amazon, Nissan and Walmart. Similar versions of the list have also racked up thousands of shares on Facebook.

“All of these people have stepped down since Gisele (sic) Maxwell’s trial has started…… but let’s just talk about Omicron,” reads the caption of a Dec. 5 post.

Fact check: Twitter CEO resignation not related to Ghislaine Maxwell trial

Maxwell is accused of procuring underage girls for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse. The duo has long served as the vehicle for conspiracy theories that allege some of the country’s top celebrities and public officials are involved in sex trafficking.

Like those conspiracy claims, this Facebook post is baseless. 

Only one company mentioned in the Facebook post, Twitter, had its chief executive step down since Maxwell’s trial began. Spokespeople for most of the other companies told USA TODAY their CEOs are not stepping down. The list appears to stem in part from misleading social media posts that circulated during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

USA TODAY reached out to Facebook users who shared the claim for comment.

Only Twitter’s CEO stepped down during trial, unrelated to Maxwell

The chief executives of most of the companies listed in the Facebook post have been in place since before Maxwell’s trial began.

Twitter announced Nov. 29 that Jack Dorsey was stepping down as chief executive. USA TODAY previously debunked a claim that his resignation was related to Maxwell’s trial.

“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” Dorsey said in a statement.

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The Facebook post appears to stem from a similar list of CEOs that purportedly stepped down during the coronavirus pandemic. The claim, which USA TODAY rated Partly False, circulated on social media in July 2020.

Here’s the status of the other companies mentioned in this more recent post:

• Bob Chapek has been the chief executive of The Walt Disney Co. since February 2020, when former CEO Bob Iger stepped down for a planned retirement.
• Satya Nadella has been the CEO of Microsoft since February 2014.
• The CEO of Amazon has been Andy Jassy since July, when founder Jeff Bezos stepped down.
• In January 2020, former Hulu CEO Randy Freer stepped down, eight months after Disney took full control of the streaming platform.
• Arvind Krishna has been IBM’s CEO since April 2020, when Ginni Rometty stepped down.
• Ryan Roslansky has been CEO of LinkedIn, which Microsoft owns, since June 2020.
• Uber Eats is part of Uber, whose CEO has been Dara Khosrowshahi since 2017.
• Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor have been co-CEOs of Salesforce since 2001 and Nov. 30, respectively.
• Shar Dubey has been CEO of the Match Group, which owns Tinder, OK Cupid and Hinge, since March 2020.
• In February 2020, Andrew Meslow was promoted from chief operating officer to CEO of Bath & Body Works.
• Martin Waters has been CEO of Victoria’s Secret since February.
• K.C. Crosthwaite has been chief executive of Juul Labs since former CEO Kevin Burns stepped down in September 2019.
• Sandeep Mathrani was appointed CEO of WeWork in February 2020.
• The last CEO change at Harley-Davidson came in February 2020, when former CEO Matthew Levatich stepped down and Jochen Zeitz took his place.
• Makoto Uchida has been CEO of Nissan since 2019.
• Mike Sievert has been CEO of T-Mobile since April 2020, when the company’s merger with Sprint was completed.
• eBay’s board of directors appointed Jamie Iannone CEO in April 2020, half a year after Devin Wenig stepped down from the position.
• Michael Miebach has been chief executive of Mastercard since January, when former CEO Ajay Banga stepped down.
• Nestlé’s chief executive has been Mark Schneider since 2017.
• Bill Hornbuckle has been the permanent CEO of MGM Resorts International since July 2020.
• The CEO of Volkswagen has been Herbert Diess since April 2018.
• At Walmart, Doug McMillon has served as president and CEO since 2014.
• Mark Hoffman is chairman of CNBC – a role he assumed in April 2015.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that more than 20 CEOs have stepped down during Maxwell’s trial. Only one of the companies mentioned in the Facebook post, Twitter, had a chief executive step down during the trial. Dorsey’s resignation was unrelated to Maxwell.

Our fact-check sources:

• USA TODAY, Dec. 6, British woman ‘Kate’ testifies about Jeffrey Epstein sexual massages at Ghislaine Maxwell trial
• USA TODAY, Dec. 1, Fact check: Press and general public allowed at Ghislaine Maxwell trial
• USA TODAY, Nov. 30, Fact check: There is no dial-in number for Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial
• USA TODAY, Nov. 30, Fact check: List of Ghislaine Maxwell ‘co-conspirators’ is from a previous lawsuit
• USA TODAY, Nov. 28, Ghislaine Maxwell’s accusers say she sexually exploited them. Here’s what her trial may reveal
• The Guardian, Dec. 5, Epstein’s dark legend wraps Maxwell trial in web of conspiracy theories
• USA TODAY, Nov. 29, Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal named as successor, sends stock surging
• USA TODAY, Nov. 30, Fact check: Twitter CEO resignation not related to Ghislaine Maxwell trial
• USA TODAY, July 12, 2020, Fact check: These 11 CEOs stepped down during COVID-19 pandemic
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• USA TODAY, Feb. 25, 2020, Disney CEO Bob Iger steps down; chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, Products steps up
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• The Columbus Dispatch, May 19, Sales, profit soar in L Brands 1st quarter as retailer readies Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works split
• USA TODAY, Sept. 25, 2019, Juul CEO resigns, vaping company suspends advertising as crisis continues
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• NBC News, Sept. 25, 2019, Juul CEO steps down amid intense company scrutiny
• Julia Sullivan, Dec. 7, email exchange with USA TODAY
• WeWork, Feb. 2, 2020, WeWork appoints Sandeep Mathrani as CEO
• Salesforce, Feb. 25, 2020, Salesforce Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Vlocity
• Techcrunch, Feb. 25, 2020, Salesforce grabs Vlocity for $1.33B, a startup with $1B valuation
• Salesforce, Feb. 25, 2020, Keith Block Steps Down as Salesforce Co-CEO; Marc Benioff is Chair and CEO
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• T-Mobile, accessed Dec. 8, Mike Sievert
• Businesswire, April 1, 2020, T-Mobile Completes Merger with Sprint to Create the New T-Mobile
• CNBC, April 1, 2020, Legere is out as T-Mobile CEO as Sprint merger officially closes
• Tara Darrow, Dec. 7, email exchange with USA TODAY
• eBay, Inc., April 13, 2020, eBay Inc. Names Jamie Iannone Chief Executive Officer
• Trina Somera, Dec. 7, email exchange with USA TODAY
• Techcrunch, Sept. 25, 2019, Devin Wenig steps down as eBay CEO
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• CNBC, Feb. 25, 2020, Mastercard names product chief Michael Miebach as CEO, Ajay Banga moves to executive chairman
• Mastercard, accessed Dec. 8, Executive Bios: Michael Miebach
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• Nestlé, accessed Dec. 8, Mark Schneider
• MGM Resorts International, July 29, 2020, MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL NAMES WILLIAM J. HORNBUCKLE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
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• The Guardian, April 12, 2018, Volkswagen announces Herbert Diess as new CEO
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• Walmart, accessed Dec. 8, Executive Management: Doug McMillon
• NBC Universal, accessed Dec. 8, Leadership: Mark Hoffman
• USA TODAY, Feb. 4, What is QAnon? What to know about the baseless, far-right conspiracy theory connected to Marjorie Taylor Greene
• Tammy Roberts Myers, Dec. 8, email exchange with USA TODAY

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