Tim Pool Throws In The Beanie, But Not Before Blaming The Employees For Him Quitting
Tim Pool, the beanie-clad YouTuber whose political commentary has garnered millions of followers, appears to be throwing in the towel—at least on his nightly Timcast IRL show. His announcement of a possible shutdown came with a flurry of grievances about lazy employees, personal burnout, and struggles with balancing work and life.
But for those closely following Pool’s rise—and apparent fall—this sudden departure reeks of more than just workplace stress.
In a rambling, two-hour episode, Pool claimed that “this might be the end” for his hit show, while assuring fans that it wasn’t about money.
“We are well off, it’s not a financial thing. We make a lot of money, but piece by piece, the structure becomes bigger and bigger until it becomes impossible to manage,” Pool lamented. He sounded less like a man taking charge of his destiny and more like an overworked manager stuck in corporate bureaucracy.
The complaints, though, ran deep. From his perspective, staff were kicking their feet up, content with doing the bare minimum while he “worked 16-hour days” to keep the show afloat.
“What if I finished work at a normal time, like everybody else, and just, uh, I don’t know, hopped in the car and went down to the river and looked at frogs?” he lamented.
He also pointed to technical failures and even suggested that some employees had been leaking information to Pool’s far-left enemies.
“We’ve had instances of people who work here leaking private information to far leftists who are harassing and stalking us,” he said in frustration.
Yet, while Pool insisted his complaints were about the lazy workforce and not about the company’s profitability, some online couldn’t help but roll their eyes.
For those paying attention, Pool’s political leanings have long been under scrutiny. His pivot from an Occupy Wall Street journalist to a darling of the right-wing media landscape didn’t happen overnight, and neither did the accusations of questionable financial ties.
Pool’s involvement with Russian money ties came into the spotlight during a major investigation in 2024, which exposed how several right-wing media influencers, including Pool, were unwittingly part of a Russian influence campaign. Pool was linked to Tenet Media, a conservative platform that received covert Russian funding. This funding, totaling around $10 million, was intended to push pro-Kremlin narratives to U.S. audiences under the guise of independent commentary.
The indictment revealed that the Russian money was funneled through shell companies, and the influencers involved—including Pool—were paid substantial sums for their content, some reportedly receiving $400,000 per month. Tenet Media’s founders had allegedly concealed the Russian origins of the funding, using a fake investor named “Eduard Grigoriann.”
Pool and others claimed they were unaware of the true source of the money.
However, skepticism surrounded Pool’s claim of innocence, particularly given that some of his content aligned with pro-Russia messaging, including comments suggesting that the U.S. should “apologize” to Russia. Despite Pool’s insistence that he had full editorial control and was deceived like others, the timing of his exit from the show after this scandal has led many to speculate that the collapse of this Russian funding significantly contributed to his decision to step back.
But the online sleuths weren’t buying Pool’s martyr narrative. Many fans were quick to point out how the timing of his potential exit felt suspiciously aligned with Russia’s financial upheavals in the wake of the demise of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the now-deceased Russian oligarch famously connected to the Wagner Group. One commenter aptly replied: “So, you’ve made your money off the backs of your loyal viewers and subscribers, and now two weeks before the election, you’re going to just bail?”
Another jabbed at Pool’s self-pitying tone: “I just worked a 12-hour day at my family-owned construction business. Couldn’t stomach listening to Tim Pool whine about the lazy employees at his multi-million-dollar YouTube company.”
Throughout the two-hour monologue, Pool constantly invoked the metaphor of Sisyphus pushing a boulder uphill. According to Pool, his employees were doing little more than sitting on said rock, watching him struggle under the weight of their collective laziness. “And that just means I’m Sisyphus pushing the rock up. The problem is people are sitting on the rock,” he quipped.
The irony, of course, is that many of his followers might now feel like the real Sisyphean victims—endlessly supporting a millionaire podcaster who could simply pull the plug on their nightly entertainment just when the going gets tough.
In fact, what has stood out to many is Pool’s blatant refusal to take any blame for the show’s faltering. At no point did he consider that, perhaps, as the self-proclaimed leader, the responsibility for his company’s “laziness” might also fall on his shoulders. Instead, he used the episode to throw his employees under the proverbial bus, an act that quickly soured his previously loyal fanbase.
As of now, Pool has left the door open for what could come next. He’s indicated that his morning show will continue—likely because, as he pointed out, “I require zero employees to do that.” But the question remains: can Pool sustain his relevance without the format that skyrocketed him to fame? And what happens to his “30-something employees” now that their future seems as uncertain as his show’s?
For now, Pool is skating off into the sunset—though whether he’s on his skateboard or fleeing from deeper financial concerns is anyone’s guess. Either way, it’s clear that the days of Timcast IRL—and possibly Pool’s larger media empire—are numbered, especially without a steady cash flow from whichever mysterious source once funded his meteoric rise.
As one fan put it, “He might want to go to the river and watch frogs, but most of us are just here watching him croak.”
Information for this briefing was found via Daily Dot and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
He’s whining about allegedly working 12-16 hr days while raking in millions of dollars spreading misinformation at best and blatant Russian propaganda at worst? I’m a US Navy veteran and I’ve worked in retail, food service, and healthcare since I got out of the military. I was a cook in the Navy, and on shore would work 12 hr days, but at sea it would usually be closer to 16-18 hrs on a good day! The overwhelming majority of it on my feet! 12 hr shifts are the standard in healthcare also! Working in retail and food service means being on your feet almost the entire time! But here’s poor little rich boy Tim Pool who can’t stand the heat in the kitchen, so he’s taking his ball & going home to cry to mommy. WTF is it with these MAGA cultists and their delusions about being “alphas”?