LAWSUIT ALLEGES $12 BILLION "UNICORN" DEEL CULTIVATED SPY, ORCHESTRATED LONG-RUNNING TRADE-SECRET THEFT & CORPORATE ESPIONAGE AGAINST COMPETITOR

Summary from the TLDR Founders newsletter

A lawsuit filed against $12 billion HR unicorn Deel claims the company ran an espionage operation by planting a spy inside competitor Rippling who conducted over 6,000 searches to steal sales data. Rippling caught the scheme by setting a trap—creating a fake Slack channel mentioned only in a letter to Deel executives, which the spy immediately searched for. The litigation threatens to expose illegal competitive practices in the high-stakes HR tech industry.