US CEO claims Indian man offered to work for free, says now he earns ₹4.7 lakh monthly

A CEO’s post about hiring a young Indian man who initially offered to work for free has sparked intense online debate. Entrepreneur Mickey Hardy revealed the employee now earns on a commission model after proving his worth. While Hardy pitched the story as a lesson in creating economic value, social media users were quickly divided, with critics calling it e exploitation and supporters praising the worker’s hustle.The US CEO’s post claiming an Indian man offered to work for free has prompted varied responses. (Representational image). (Pexels)“I recently hired a kid in India who offered to work for free. He asked for nothing. He just wanted an opportunity to prove he could create value. Once he did, I moved him into a commission only role,” American CEO Mickey Hardy wrote on X.Also Read: ‘Sir, ₹350 a day just to get to work’: Fresher tells Bengaluru CEO about rising cost of livingExplaining the working model, the entrepreneur continued, “The model is simple: eat what you kill. He earns 20% of the profit he generates. His job is outreach and growing our media assets.”The CEO claimed that although he had offered to work for free, the Indian man now earns $5,000 per month (approximately ₹4.7 lakh).“Today, he is making close to $5,000 per month and repeatedly tells me how much the opportunity has changed his life and his family’s life.”Hardy said that the incident has a lesson for “anyone struggling to find work”.“Find someone you want to work with. Figure out what they need. Create value for them before they ever have to ask you for it. Make yourself economically undeniable. Opportunity tends to find people who have already proven they deserve it.”The CEO further invited others to reach out to him via DM. He also shared what people shouldn’t write while reaching out to him.“Pls do not dm me: ‘I’m a hard worker let me help’. state:- What you do. Why I need it. What your strategy is.”How did social media react?The post prompted mixed reactions on X. While some praised the Indian man for his grit and the CEO for hiring him, others argued that it was exploitation.An individual posted, “No doubt you are great at betting on people. You have developed a great sense of judgement.” Another commented, “I like the idea of proving your value first instead of waiting for someone to hire you.”Also Read: ‘He hoodwinked me’: Indian-origin CEO who fired 900 employees over Zoom seeks his job backA third expressed, “This isn’t pure opportunity. It’s taking advantage of a kid in India willing to work for free because the alternatives are worse. He creates the value, you keep 80%. $5k only looks good because of the wage gap. This is just pure bull s**t.”A fourth wrote, “Offering to work for free isn’t the impressive part. Creating enough value that someone quickly wants to pay you is.”