eBay’s bizarre cyberstalking saga ends with a $56 million settlement

TechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechNewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyeBay’s bizarre cyberstalking saga ends with a $56 million settlementA group of now-former executives sent live insects, a bloody pig mask, and a funeral wreath to a couple who covered eBay in a newsletter.A group of now-former executives sent live insects, a bloody pig mask, and a funeral wreath to a couple who covered eBay in a newsletter.by Emma RothCloseEmma RothNews WriterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Emma RothJul 28, 2026, 9:11 PM UTCLinkShareGiftThe VergeEmma RothCloseEmma RothPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.eBay and three former executives will pay $55.7 million as part of a settlement with a Massachusetts couple targeted with a bizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign in 2019, as reported earlier by CNBC. The settlement will resolve a lengthy legal saga that revealed how eBay’s former executives sent live insects, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and other strange items to David and Ina Steiner over their newsletter’s coverage of eBay.The Steiners, who operate the EcommerceBytes newsletter, sued eBay and its former executives — including ex-CEO Devin Wenig — in 2021. The lawsuit accused the company and its executives of launching a coordinated effort to “intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the Steiners in an attempt to “stifle” their eBay-related reporting.The Department of Justice charged seven former eBay employees in connection with the harassment campaign in 2020, all of whom have been convicted. eBay agreed to pay a $3 million criminal penalty related to the case in 2024. Wenig wasn’t charged and says that he had no knowledge of the harassment.“As we have long stated, what the Steiners were subjected to by former eBay employees in 2019 was wrong, reprehensible and should never have happened,” eBay says in a statement on its website. “We condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the employees who perpetrated and pled guilty to criminal charges for the misconduct against Ina and David Steiner.”The $55.7 million settlement will include $46.15 million from eBay, $2 million from Wenig, $500,000 from former global operations SVP Wendy Jones, and $50,000 from former chief communications officer Steve Wymer. eBay will also donate $6 million to nonprofit organizations.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Emma RothCloseEmma RothNews WriterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Emma RothLawCloseLawPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All LawNewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All NewsPolicyClosePolicyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All PolicyTechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All TechMost PopularMost PopularHugging Face is being used to easily undress women and childrenApple launches ‘Upgrade’ program to lease new devicesX Money is launching in the US starting todaySmart rings are looking like my kind of AI gadgetIs it illegal to trick the US government into