That’s interpersonally malicious. A selfish kind of malicious. Yes, quite bad, but it’s not the scheming necessary of villain businessman.

It does go to show how all it takes is a person being given more power than they’re accepting of responsibility for. Like most bad small business leaders or “entrepreneurs” especially, Linus became a boss before he internalized and processed his struggles as a worker. He quite directly fails to understand the power dynamics.

Remember: I still think he’s unqualified. I’m merely pointing out the details of how Hanlon’s razor applies here. He’s a bit of a selfish, lazy nerd, unqualified to control the very business he built. Ahh capitalism. It truly rewards the most qualified callously shrewd.