Ina and David Steiner, a Massachusetts husband-and-wife team who founded the e-zine EcommerceBytes covering digital retail, became targets of a coordinated harassment campaign by eBay in 2019. The couple, who had covered Silicon Valley and eBay for approximately 20 years, received threatening messages and disturbing deliveries at their suburban Boston home, including live spiders, a bloody pig mask, and pornographic magazines sent to neighbors. They initially believed they were being targeted by an individual stalker but discovered the campaign was orchestrated by eBay executives.
The harassment began after Ina published reporting on then-CEO Devin Wenig’s executive compensation package. Text message exchanges between eBay executives revealed personal vendetta language, with Wenig writing “Take her down” and Chief Communications Officer Steve Wymer stating “I want to see ashes.” eBay’s security chief James Baugh directed a team of employees to target the Steiners. The case unraveled after local police traced a vehicle monitoring the couple to an eBay employee who had used a corporate credit card to rent it.
Seven eBay executives and employees were charged with cyberstalking by the Department of Justice in 2020. James Baugh received a 57-month prison sentence in 2022. In 2024, eBay entered a deferred-prosecution agreement, admitted to six felony counts including interstate-travel and electronic-communications stalking, and paid a maximum criminal penalty of $3 million. The Steiners obtained a $55.7 million civil settlement in which eBay admitted fault and apologized. Former CEO Wenig separately agreed to pay $2 million to the Steiners and $1 million to a First Amendment rights charity.
Both Steiners have since been diagnosed with PTSD and continue managing anxiety through therapy and medication. The couple continued publishing EcommerceBytes during the ordeal to preserve the publication they built. A Prime Video documentary titled “Whatever It Takes” chronicles their experience. Unlike many settlement agreements, their settlement included no nondisclosure agreement, allowing them to speak publicly about the case and continue reporting on related developments.
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