According to people familiar with the matter, Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson notified employees on Friday that the board of directors has voted to close the company.

The person, who asked not to be named, said that Watson notified Oz’s staff of the decision during a five-minute call in the late afternoon. The person familiar with the matter said that Watson, with a frustrated face, did not answer any questions.

“The New York Times” first published the news of Oz’s decision.

“At Ozy, we are fortunate to have an excellent dedicated team,” the company’s board of directors told the New York Times. “Many of them are world-class journalists and experienced professionals, and we are very grateful to them for being outstanding colleagues. Therefore, we must announce today with the heaviest heart that we will close the door of Ozy. ”

A spokesperson for Ozy could not be immediately reached for comment. According to Axios, the company has 75 full-time employees, and the company also reported that Ozy Media will be closed.

The person familiar with the matter said that full-time employees are now waiting to hear whether they will receive any severance pay or extended benefits due to the sudden closure. Another person familiar with the matter said that freelance writers will be paid their final salary next week.

The Times first reported On Sunday, an Ozy executive later revealed that he was Chief Operating Officer Samir Rao, posing as a YouTube executive and Goldman Sachs, The company is considering investing US$40 million in the company. Allegedly, the company has also greatly exaggerated its monthly unique visitors, which is a metric used by media companies to attract advertisers.

The report caused a mess in the company.

On Wednesday, former BBC anchor Katty Kay and one of the executive producers of Ozy Media, Resign from the company In the aftermath.

Thursday, Marc Lasry resigns as chairman of Ozy Media After only three weeks of work. Billionaire investor Lassley is the CEO of Avenue Capital Group and the owner of the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.

Lasri said on Thursday: “I think that continuing to advance Ozy requires experience in areas such as crisis management and investigation, and I don’t have special expertise in these areas.” He added that he is still an investor in Ozy Media.

CNBC also reported on Thursday Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson lied when he claimed that Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne invested in his company. The Osbournes filed a trademark lawsuit against the company name Ozy Fest in 2017, which is the company’s annual concert and festival. Osborn told CNBC that Watson used his relationship with billionaire Ozy Media investor Lauren Powell Jobs to threaten to file a lawsuit. “This man is the shyest person I have ever seen in my life,” Osborne said.

According to a report by The Times on Thursday, Oz also promised to the former producer that it was shooting a show for A&E. But the producer discovered that this was also a lie. According to the New York Times, A&E never planned to broadcast an interview filmed by Ozy.

Former Ozy employees told CNBC on Friday that Watson ran the company as a charismatic and moody leader. His demands for reporters-including four long stories in “tasteful” prose every week-caused several employees to resign due to burnout.CNN Talk to other employees Mentioned similar stories of long hours of work and exhaustion.

According to five former employees, Watson and Rao both gained fame for yelling at employees in the workplace.Some people say that working at Ozy feels like a Wall Street trading floor and ideas The time the two worked at Goldman Sachs May contribute to their behavior.

Three people who attended the meeting said that Watson often boasted about Oz’s influence at internal meetings, but reporters and editors saw little evidence of Oz’s popularity. Nevertheless, they still stay with the company because they believe in the company’s mission: to report stories and trends that other media haven’t discovered yet. Former Ozy employees also praised Watson for establishing a diverse workplace and allowing them to solve problems out of the box.

“I have never seen a workplace as diverse as Ozy,” said a former employee. “This is an important reason to stay in the company.”

But the harsh speed and Watson’s temper caused many people to leave-usually to the chagrin of Watson. Several noticed that Watson tried to keep them, and even contacted them after they quit.

“There is a real person there, somewhere,” a former employee said of Watson. “It’s just hard to break vanity.”

Employees say that Watson is the spokesperson of the company literally and figuratively.He will ask to be More prominent on the site, Two of them said that they linked to his YouTube talk show “The Carlos Watson Show.” YouTube ads for the show To quote a sentence from Deadline, Watson is “the best interviewer on TV.”That line is Actually Rao saidAn executive posing as a YouTube executive in an article about the “Carlos Watson Show” due to the 2020 deadline.

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watch: Smith of the New York Times discusses the resignation of Mark Lasley from Oz