Groupon, the pioneer of Daily Deals Business has fired its CEO and Co-Founder Andrew Mason, who has been holding this position since its inception Four and Half Years back. The Decision was taken by Groupon’s Board of Directors.
To Take care of the corporate affairs, Groupon Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis will assume the charges while the Board looks for new CEO.
Groupon is a Chicago based company with its Business Operations around the world. It also operates in several major cities of India like New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai etc. In Business terms, it offers one remarkable deal per day in each city it operates.
CEO Andrew Mason himself made public,  the reason behind his ouster from the bigger Role,  which turns out to be “controversial metrics” in Groupon’s S-1 filing, missed earnings expectations in the last two quarters and a stock price that’s fallen roughly 75% since it went public in November 2011.
In an open letter addressed to his Employees, he assumed accountability for the decline in the Stock Prices. After his Resignation, the Stock Prices went 5 percent higher, reports Mashable.
Mason further states, “You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company – it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise”.
Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis have assumed the Office of the CEO.  On behalf of the entire Groupon Board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon. As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest growing companies in history,” said Lefkofsky.
Firing of CEO or the Founder is one of the rare incident in the global business scenario. In past Apple fired its CEO Steve Jobs, however Steve made a dramatic return to his company after Apple’s downfall and a series of acquisitions.