INTERNET CHAOS
Company Group Chat Mistakenly Elects Summer Intern as CEO for Six Hours
A Slack poll meant to choose a lunch spot spiraled into corporate confusion after 312 employees accidentally voted an intern into temporary executive power.
What Happened
Workers at a software company in Austin say a Friday afternoon Slack poll titled "Who should decide?" was supposed to settle whether the team wanted tacos or sandwiches. Instead, the poll got forwarded across multiple channels without context, and hundreds of employees assumed it was part of a quirky internal leadership exercise.
The runaway winner was 20-year-old marketing intern Eli Mercer, mostly because coworkers thought it would be funny and because his campaign message, "I believe in longer lunch," resonated deeply.
Why This Matters
For roughly six hours, Mercer had access to the executive calendar, approved a company-wide snack budget increase, and renamed the 3 p.m. sync "The Council of Vibes." Productivity reportedly improved.
Deeper Context
The actual CEO returned from a flight, laughed, and kept the snack budget increase. The company has since updated its Slack permissions and quietly admitted the intern's all-hands memo was better than usual.