Yiannopoulos’ business implodes after death of crypto-billionaire
Yiannopoulos’ business implodes after death of crypto-billionaire
BEN SCHRECKINGER04/27/2018 12:14 PM EDT
Milo Yiannopoulos continues his search for financial backing. He painted the layoffs at Milo Entertainment Inc. as a minor setback. | Mark Graham/AFP/Getty Images
Running out of money and down on his luck, right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos laid off the small staff of Milo Entertainment Inc. earlier this month, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Yiannopoulos’ company has fallen on hard times ever since his former patrons, Robert and Rebekah Mercer, severed their financial backing last year.
According to the sources, Yiannopoulos had been expecting to instead receive significant financial backing from the banking heir and cryptocurrency billionaire Matthew Mellon. But those hopes were dashed with Mellon’s unexpected death from an apparent drug overdose on April 16.
On Monday, Yiannopoulos posted a photo on Instagram of himself with Mellon. “I spent a few days and nights in Miami and LA with the incredible human being Matthew Mellon, the last of them just a day before he passed,” Yiannopoulos wrote in the caption. “He was brilliant, infectious and warm-hearted and I will never forget getting to know this remarkable person. Rest in peace now, MM. You left a giant stamp on the world.”
With Mellon’s unexpected death, Yiannopoulos could no longer afford the staff of Milo Entertainment.
“He fired everybody,” said one person familiar with Yiannopoulos’ operation, which had employed a handful of full-time and part-time staffers.
Among them was the journalist Chadwick Moore, who was technically terminated several days before learning of his firing, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Moore spent those days with Yiannopoulos, unaware that he had been fired. Yiannopoulos was supposed to inform Moore of his dismissal, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Instead, Milo Inc. CEO Alexander Macris ended up having to call Moore and tell him about his termination.
Moore, in an email, said: “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about. I’m just an editor. I got paid today and the work continues!”
Yiannopoulos also disputed this version of events. “There is nothing I was supposed to tell Chadwick that I did not tell him in a timely fashion and in any case such news comes from the CEO not me,” he said.
Yiannopoulos’s business includes Milo Worldwide LLC and Milo Entertainment Inc. The layoffs hit Milo Entertainment Inc., the corporate entity used for employment purposes.
Despite their termination from Milo Entertainment, Moore and Macris retain interests in Milo Worldwide. Yiannopoulos said Moore and Macris were terminated from Milo Entertainment because of the costs of their health care, but that he had increased their compensation through Milo Worldwide to compensate for the move. At least two other full-time staffers were let go entirely.
Yiannopoulos, meanwhile, continues his search for financial backing. He painted the layoffs as a minor setback.
“The video component of my daily show was stopped recently as the cost wasn’t justifiable,” he wrote in a text message. “Show is now audio only. There were two layoffs as a result. But nothing has changed elsewhere or at Dangerous.com.”
As for those affected, they are taking a less rosy view. "People are very, very furious,” said a person familiar with the situation.
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