1Password Sparks Backlash Over $300,000 Omarchy Pledge as Staff and Customers Challenge DHH Ties
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Sep 2
1Password Sparks Backlash Over $300,000 Omarchy Pledge as Staff and Customers Challenge DHH Ties
1 articles · Updated · The Verge · Sep 2
Summary
$300,000 from 1Password to the Omacom Foundation triggered immediate customer backlash over Omarchy creator David Heinemeier Hansson’s racist and anti-immigrant posts, with some users publicly seeking alternative password managers.
Internal Slack messages show the dispute also spread inside 1Password, where CEO David Faugno acknowledged concerns and said the company does not endorse DHH’s views, while cofounder Roustem Karimov downplayed the comments as personal opinions.
1Password justified the pledge by saying Omarchy has become its second-most-used Linux distribution among customers and stressed the money went to the foundation rather than directly to DHH.
The controversy was widely seen as foreseeable because DHH’s politics have drawn criticism for years, including Duke University Libraries dropping Basecamp in 2023 over harms tied to 37signals leadership.