The 22 biggest tech scandals of 2016

Fox 13 News

Relax, everyone: 2016 is almost over. 

It's been quite a year in tech, one that saw exploding smartphones, several lawsuits, and some really juicy scandals. Startups have crumbled and been reborn, many millions of dollars have been lost and gained, and quite a few of us had to change our passwords. 

It's doubtful that 2017 can beat it. 

What follows are the biggest scandals in the tech industry over the course of the last year. Grab some popcorn, maybe.

February: The CEO of high-flying HR startup Zenefits suddenly resigns after the company missed its revenue projections and ran into trouble with the law.

Flickr/JD Lasica

In February, Zenefits hit a breaking point. Its cofounder and CEO, Parker Conrad, suddenly resigned amid reports that the company had grown too fast and spiraled out of control. 

The HR company, which makes cloud-based software to manage employees, was allegedly selling insurance without a license in several states, including Arizona, Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee. Just a few weeks prior, it came to light that the startup wouldn't be able to meet its internal target of $100 million in revenue under contract by the end of January. 

The company had another problem: staffers frequently partied at the office to the point that cigarettes, plastic cups full of beer, and used condoms were found in a stairwell. 

Zenefits replaced Conrad with David Sacks, who aimed to clean up the company and introduce more transparency. He fired 17% of the workforce and launched a new product, Z2, this year. In November, Sacks announced that he was leaving Zenefits after 10 months at the company. 

February: A Yelp employee is fired after publicly complaining that the company didn't pay her enough to make ends meet.

REUTERS/Jim Young

In February, a Yelp customer service employee named Talia Jane published an open letter on Medium to Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's CEO. She wrote in the letter that the company didn't pay enough to live in San Francisco, forcing her fellow employees to take side jobs or live at home because they couldn't pay rent or afford groceries. 

Two hours after posting the letter, Talia Jane was fired from Yelp. While Stoppelman later wrote on Twitter that she was not fired for her essay, Talia Jane said at the time that she was fired for speaking out. 

March: Hulk Hogan wins in the sex-tape fight against Gawker.

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via Reuters

Hulk Hogan came out on top in a legal battle with Gawker Media. 

The wrestler — whose real name is Terry Bollea — had sued Gawker for publishing a tape of him having sex with the wife of a friend in 2012. Though Gawker claimed there was news value in publishing the tape, a court ordered Gawker to pay Bollea $115 million in compensatory damages. 

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel funded Bollea's lawsuit. 

By June, Gawker filed for bankruptcy and put itself up for auction, ultimately selling itself to Univision for $135 million in August. In November, Gawker settled the lawsuit with Bollea for $31 million. 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider