Image Source: Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Was the Accusation?
eBay faced a major corporate scandal over a 2019 cyberstalking and harassment campaign directed at Ina and David Steiner, the Massachusetts husband-and-wife publishers of EcommerceBytes, an independent newsletter covering e-commerce companies and issues affecting online sellers. The Steiners had published reporting that eBay executives considered critical of the company, including coverage of then-CEO Devin Wenig’s compensation. According to federal prosecutors, senior eBay executives became increasingly frustrated with the newsletter’s tone and content and with comments posted by readers beneath its articles.
In August 2019, members of eBay’s security organization launched a campaign intended to intimidate the Steiners and influence the content of their reporting. According to eBay’s subsequent admissions to federal prosecutors, former Senior Director of Safety and Security James Baugh and other members of the security team sent the couple anonymous and disturbing deliveries, including live insects, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath and a book about surviving the death of a spouse. The campaign also included threatening social-media messages, Craigslist posts inviting strangers to sexual encounters at the Steiners’ home, surveillance of the couple in Natick, Massachusetts, and an attempt to install a GPS tracking device on their vehicle.
The campaign emerged from a corporate environment in which senior executives had expressed intense hostility toward the Steiners’ coverage. Among the internal communications later disclosed were messages from Wenig calling for Ina Steiner to be taken down and from then-Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer expressing a desire to see the newsletter destroyed. Wenig was never criminally charged and has maintained that he did not know about or authorize the harassment campaign. His attorneys have said that his messages concerned a public-relations response to the Steiners’ reporting rather than criminal harassment. Seven former eBay employees or contractors were ultimately convicted for their roles in the campaign. Baugh, whom prosecutors identified as the ringleader, was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.
The scandal eventually produced criminal consequences for eBay itself. In January 2024, the company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. eBay admitted to a detailed statement of facts concerning its conduct and was charged with six felony offenses: two counts of stalking through interstate travel, two counts of stalking through electronic communications services, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of justice. The company agreed to pay the statutory maximum criminal penalty of $3 million, retain an independent corporate compliance monitor for three years and make extensive enhancements to its compliance program.
Current eBay CEO Jamie Iannone responded to the criminal resolution by accepting responsibility on behalf of the company, describing eBay’s 2019 conduct as wrong and reprehensible and extending the company’s apologies to the Steiners. He also emphasized corrective measures taken since the scandal, including new leadership and strengthened policies, procedures, controls and training.
The Steiners also pursued a civil lawsuit against eBay and former executives. In July 2026, eBay and three former top executives reached a $55.7 million settlement resolving the litigation. eBay agreed to pay $46.15 million to the Steiners and fund $6 million in charitable contributions. Wenig agreed to pay the Steiners $2 million and contribute another $1 million to a First Amendment organization in Ina Steiner’s name, while former executives Wendy Jones and Steve Wymer also agreed to payments. In its settlement statement, eBay again condemned the harassment, acknowledged the unprofessional tone of internal communications by Wenig, Wymer and Jones, apologized to the Steiners and said the settlement was part of its effort to compensate them and make things right. The case received renewed public attention through the documentary Whatever It Takes: Inside the eBay Scandal, which chronicled the Steiners’ ordeal and the lasting effects of the harassment.
Key Apologia Strategies
Mortification, Corrective Action, Bolstering
Video
N/A
Transcript
Statement from eBay CEO Jamie Iannone Regarding the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (January 11, 2024):
“The company’s conduct in 2019 was wrong and reprehensible. From the moment eBay first learned of the 2019 events, eBay cooperated fully and extensively with law enforcement authorities. We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners for what they endured. Since these events occurred, new leaders have joined the company and eBay has strengthened its policies, procedures, controls and training. eBay remains committed to upholding high standards of conduct and ethics and to making things right with the Steiners.”
eBay Statement Regarding the Civil Settlement with Ina and David Steiner (July 28, 2026):
As we have long stated, what the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened. We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner. We also acknowledge the unprofessional tone in internal communications demonstrated, to different degrees and number, by Mr. Wenig, Mr. Wymer, and Ms. Jones.
We continue to extend our deepest apologies to the Steiners. This agreement is consistent with our commitment to fairly compensate the Steiners and fulfills our efforts to make things right.
The 2019 conduct is not representative of eBay’s culture or thousands of employees around the world today. Since these events occurred, new leaders have joined the company and eBay has strengthened its policies, procedures, controls and training consistent with the company’s ongoing commitment to uphold high standards of conduct and ethics.
