I'm not sure the problem is that he got fired, so much as how he got fired.

I must admit, the first clause of my sentence was mostly a vehicle for the second clause, the punchline — sole-proprietors not approving of themselves. It loses a bit in the explaining. Although whatever that 95% is a proxy for, they clearly trust Altman dramatically, enough to endure a job at a Microsoft subsidiary.

You may want to double check that. Their letter was in support of the CEO from 3 days ago. Although you’re right they don’t support the new CEO appointed within the last 24 hrs, but they don’t explicitly mention that, but they do lambast the current board of directors — and I imagine the the board should feel embarrassed, but save one, there’s no evidence of that.

Former boss.

By the dozens of employee accounts I’ve read in the last 72 hours they all spoke with affection, and I could not find any detractors. A repeated theme was that he always took the time to listen and he cared and went out of his way. I’ve never worked with a CEO I would describe that way. I don’t know how widespread that is among their employees, or whether they’re mostly pissed at the board for destroying their financial futures, but I’d say this situation and their level of devotion is mind boggling, almost cult like.