'Crying CEO' Goes Viral, Posted Tearful Selfie After Laying People Off

CANAL WINCHESTER, OH — The CEO of an Ohio marketing company has gone viral after he published a tearful selfie on LinkedIn as part of a post about recent layoffs at his business.

“Days like today, I wish I was a business owner that was only money driven and didn't care about who he hurt along the way,” wrote Braden Wallake, CEO of HyperSocial and HyperSphere, in the post Wednesday. “But I'm not.”

Wallake runs a Canal Winchester-based business-to-business sales and marketing company, and explained he had recently laid off a few employees due to a decision he made in February.

“I know it isn't professional to tell my employees that I love them,” he said. “But from the bottom of my heart, I hope they know how much I do.”

The post received nearly 34,000 reactions, more than 7,000 comments and over 600 shares.

Many were critical, calling Wallake “out of touch,” “narcissistic” and “emotionally immature.”

“Even if the intentions were good, it comes off as incredibly manipulative….especially with the ‘crying selfie,’” commenter Zoltan A. Vardy wrote.

Some suggested Wallake should have taken a pay cut to help the company’s finances.

“Great that you want to own up to your mistakes but that’s between you and your team,” wrote commenter Ryan Kim. “Your personal sadness and attempt to convince strangers that you 'love' your employees is useless to the people you fired.”

Others were more supportive and said the post showed compassion.

“Good on (you) for sharing,” commenter Michael Barnes wrote. “We need more people sharing challenges.”

Wallake took to LinkedIn later Wednesday to respond in a follow-up post.

“Hey everyone, yes, I am the crying CEO,” he wrote. “No, my intent was not to make it about me or victimize myself. I am sorry it came across that way.”