Halli Thorleifsson is an Icelandic entrepreneur and businessman. Most specifically, he is the bearded man behind Ueno, a creative technology services company.
The philanthropist came up with Ueno in 2014, and he was honored with the award for the Icelandic businessman of the year in 2019. However, in 2021, Ueno was acquired by Twitter. Ever since Hally worked under Twitter.
But he also has another hooking non-profitable business, Bueno, that donates money to good people doing good things and he is quite busy with that these days.
When everything was running smoothly, news began to surface about Hall quitting Elon Musk’s Twitter. So apparently, Halli Thorleifsson only serves on Twitter for as long as 2 years and in 2023, he is no longer linked with the social networking company.
Early Life Of Halli Thorleifsson
Halardur Thorleiffson, who is better known as Halli Thorleifsson was born with a genital muscle condition that has locked him in a wheelchair for the last 24 years. Unfortunately, he lost his mom, Anna Jona, in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
Although difficult, Halli managed to pull out the best version of himself as he was building up an improvised version of Halli before the world.
Halli’s Hard-Earned Career
In 2014, Halli founded the full-service creative agency, Ueno. Four short years later, the Icelandic Association of Business and Economics recognized him as Icelandic businessman of the year.
The lounge was a literal one-man operation out of his apartment and by 2019, they had 60 full-time employees and branches in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Reykjavik, and New York.
In early 2021, Hally accepted the proposal put forward by Twitter and chose to work for them.
As per the deal, his salary involved most of the purchase price to maximize his tax liability. It was Halli’s suggestion as he wanted to pay back Iceland for the disability benefits he received over decades. Reportedly, Halli Thorleifsson paid the second-highest tax in Iceland.
In March of the same year, Halli offered his help to launch a collaborative venture named “Ramp Up Reykjavik.”
It operated to make wheelchair ramps accessible throughout the local businesses with the intention to boost individuals with disabilities. Since it turned out to be a major success, an updated project called “Ramp Up Iceland’ was further introduced.
However, this aim was quite broader as it aimed to bring around 1,000 ramps across Iceland. By November 2022, the goal was raised from 1,000 to 1,600, and if the previous success is something to go by, then there would be at least 1,600 ramps before 2026.
In December 2022, Halli was labeled the Icelandic Person of the Year by Icelandic newspapers like Visir, and Morgonblao, as well as the Icelandic national broadcaster RUV.
Also Read:- Alex Mehr: From NASA Scientist To Self-Made Millionaire
Halli’s Controversy With Twitter CEO, Elon Musk
Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter, there hasn’t been a week without mentioning it. Since the recent lay-off ruined the lives of hundreds, Halli began to develop fear and he was baffled about the status of his position on the micro-blogging platform.
However, he was ridiculed by Musk after Halli made queries regarding his concern on Twitter.
Before the official disclosure, Halli continued his work with no word from the Human Resources department. Then, he got frustrated and turned to Twitter.
Eventually, the billionaire CEO noticed the tweet and as a result, Halli happened to learn that he had indeed been laid off via HR.
Following that, Musk criticized Halli in a public conversation, which led to a major backlash. In the interview, he said that Halli was taking advantage of his ailment and used it as an excuse to put away his liabilities in the workspace.
The commoners reacted with the comment asserting that Musk did wrong by disclosing their employee’s disability, which was against the Disability Act.
According to Musk, Halli did not work at Twitter as he often skipped them pointing at his wheelchair and he added that it is not a respectful quality. But he took back his words and went on to issue a rare apology in fear of the potential lawsuit over the ADA violation.
Apparently, Musk has spoken to him in a video call and has even re-offered him the position on Twitter, but an immediate reaction was not taken from Halli.
Read More:- Eric Garland: All About Futurist And Owner Of Competitive Futures
