- Mr Watt says his ADHD diagnosis has made him realize he is ‘wired differently’
James Watt, former millionaire CEO of BrewDog, insists he’s just ‘demanding’ and ‘different’ as he leaves the hipster brewer after 17 years.
Mr Watt, 41, this week handed over control of the top job to Chief Operating Officer James Arrow, but will remain with the group as a non-executive director on the board and continue to advise them on strategy.
He has insisted he had been considering quitting for “some time”, with his tenure marred by criticism and controversy, including accusations from former employees that the company had a “culture of fear” with a “toxic attitude” towards junior staff.
After almost two decades of founding BrewDog in a garage in Aberdeenshire with his friend Martin Dickie, Mr Watt says he is now burned out and admits that ‘there are people who can run a business of 3,000 people’ better.
Last year it was reported that he sought specialist help after being described as ‘semi-autistic’ following allegations of inappropriate behavior towards staff.
He was diagnosed with ADHD – which makes people restless and impulsive – and Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism.
The retired fishing boat captain told The Times this week that the diagnosis made him realize his head is “wired” differently.
“I don’t have the same emotional intelligence,” he said.
Click here to change the format of this module
‘You care less often what other people think. You like to do things that are a bit on the edge. That certainly helped. But it became more challenging not to interact with people in the same emotional way.”
Mr Watt, who starts each day with an ice bath, admitted that being ‘intense and demanding’ was not the right environment for everyone.
“But the vast majority of people who have worked very closely with me would have a very different perception,” he said.
‘I’m demanding and have high standards, but how do you build something without that?’
Mr Watt will take on the newly created non-executive role of ‘captain and co-founder’ and will retain his 21 per cent stake in BrewDog.
In a Linkedin post this week, Mr Watt said: ‘After 17 fantastic years as CEO, I have decided to move to a new role in the business, one of ‘captain and co-founder’ – and James Arrow will take on the task take on. will take the lead as CEO as our company enters our next phase of growth.
“In my new role, I will remain a board member, director and will also serve as a part-time strategic advisor to the company and our leadership team.”
Mr Watt comes from a fishing family and helped his father on his fishing boat in the North Sea. On his LinkedIn profile he claims to be a ‘fully qualified deep sea captain’.
He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in law and economics. After finding a job as a trainee lawyer, he quit after two weeks – labeling ‘conformity’ as ‘painful at best’ – and started BrewDog with Mr Dickie three years later.
Click here to change the format of this module
The business struggled initially but took off when Tesco placed an order to sell its beer nationwide after about six months.
In 2014, Mr Watt won the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2016 both he and Mr Dickie were awarded MBEs.
The pair grew up as best friends and became housemates when they both lived in Edinburgh.
Mr Watt, who is divorced and has two daughters, has been the face of the company since its inception.
He has been dating former Made in Chelsea star Georgia Toffolo, 29, since last summer after being set up on a blind date by a friend.
Watt’s tenure at BrewDog has been marred by controversy in recent years, with the company accused in an open letter by former employees in 2021 of having a “culture of fear” within the company, with a “toxic attitude” towards junior staff.
He later admitted to being “too intense and demanding” amid a row over workplace culture, where he was accused of inappropriate behavior and abusing his power.
Speaking to Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO podcast about his leadership at the company, he admitted that he previously pushed people “too far” because of his “high standards.”
But the CEO – whose company has been accused of having a “rotten culture” – said his actions were carried out with “100 percent good intentions”.
Mr Watt revealed: ‘It’s completely fair to say that I’ve been too intense at times on the journey.
‘I have been too demanding, I have set standards for the team that I would set for myself, and for many team members that is unattainable.
Click here to change the format of this module
“I just pushed for such high standards and unrealistic deadlines because I was so focused on ‘let’s build the thing, let’s create more jobs, let’s deliver more value to our customers.’
“The intention was 100 percent good and because I was so into it and so focused, I pushed people too far.”
More than 15 former employees previously spoke out against Mr Watt, with some claiming he made female bartenders feel ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘powerless’.
They even received advice from colleagues on how to avoid unwanted attention from Mr Watt, according to an investigation by BBC Scotland’s Disclosure programme.
Katelynn Ising, who worked at a BrewDog bar in Ohio, US, said female staff would dress smartly if they knew Mr Watt would be in their bars.
Other former staff claim Watt was seen by staff kissing a drunken customer on a rooftop terrace at another US bar.
Mr Watt has said the allegations are false and denied any inappropriate conduct.
Last year, Watts’ disgruntled former employees shared a scathing open letter criticizing the company for its “toxic attitude” and accusing it of promoting a “culture of fear” among staff.
The letter, written by a group called ‘Punks With Purpose’, included a list of 63 names of people who used to work for the company, and targeted the Scotland-based brewery’s founders, James Watt and Martin Dickie.
It claimed the company is ‘built on a cult of personality’ and alleged that some employees felt ‘burned out, scared and miserable’, adding that ‘a significant number of people have admitted to suffering from mental illness’ as a result from work there.
It even went so far as to claim that being treated like a human being ‘unfortunately wasn’t always a given’ for those who worked at BrewDog – shattering the image of the hipster company offering ‘paternity leave’ if a staff member gets a dog and pays employees destroyed. £500 to quit if they don’t feel like they are a good fit.
The letter also alleged that some senior employees “belittled” others below them and “pressured them to work beyond their capabilities,” to the point where they ultimately felt “forcibly forced out of the company.”
Click here to change the format of this module
It claimed that the biggest shared experience among former staff is ‘a residual sense of fear’, both of the atmosphere and of the consequences if they were to speak out. It was claimed that ‘many’ felt unable to sign the letter as it would ‘make them feel extremely vulnerable’.
The letter went on to accuse Mr Watt of being personally responsible for the company’s “rotten culture”, claiming that in the wake of his success, people were left “burned out, scared and miserable”. It ends by demanding a “sincere apology” for those who felt “harassed, attacked, belittled, insulted or targeted.”
In response, Mr Watt said at the time: ‘At BrewDog, our people are our number one priority, which is why the open letter we saw on Twitter was so disturbing, but so important,’ the report said.
‘Our focus now is not on contradicting or disputing the details of that letter, but on listening, learning and acting.
‘At BrewDog we are focused on building the best possible business. We have always tried to get the best out of our team; we have many thousands of employees with positive stories as a result. But the tweet we saw last night proves that we haven’t gotten it right on many occasions. We strive to do better, not just in response, but always; and we will be reaching out to our entire team, past and present, for more information.
“But at this point, we’re mostly sorry. It’s hard to hear those comments, but it must have been harder to say them. We appreciate that and we will try to honor that effort and courage with the real change it deserves.
‘We are not going to make excuses, we are going to take action. From our commitment to sustainability to our passion for beer, BrewDog has always defined itself by taking responsibility and continuously improving. This is no exception.’