Significant Staff Terminations Drop Headcount
We are hearing from multiple sources both public and private that Thiel Audio has ceased operations, effective November 30, 2017. If true, the news would be a sad punctuation to the end of the story of a once proud high-end audio brand that since 2012 has endured multiple CEO’s and their changing business plans. Current CEO Elyse McKenna is, by our count, the fifth CEO at Thiel since the end of 2012 – a year which started with co-founder Kathy Gornik as the CEO who then sold the company to David B. Griffin, a wealthy farmer and landowner according to our sources.
But, apparently, the answer to the question posed in our headline is that it depends on who you ask. CEO Elyse McKenna, in a telephone interview this afternoon, denied that Thiel is closed and tells us the company remains open for business.