Groupon founder sacked following share price crash
Andrew Mason, Groupon’s founder and chief executive, has been sacked by the board of the online voucher firm amidst declining sales and a crash in the firms share price.
Despite being widely trailed in advance the move led to a further 24% cut in the firms share price on Thursday, contributing to an overall 77% collapse in value since they were first listed in 2011, as many investors thought Mason would cling on till the summer.
In a note to employees Mason said: “After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention."
Executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and vice chairman Ted Leonsis will fill Mason’s shoes for an interim period until a replacement can be found.
Groupon made a bigger than expected loss in the last three months and expects revenues in the current quarter to disappoint as well amidst concern consumers are tiring of the firms offer and increasingly migrating toward rivals such as Amazon and Google.