Natalie Dawson is the co-founder & president of Cardone Ventures. She has been at the center of an uproar after she revealed she sacked two of her staff over an extramarital affair. In a frank podcast discussion, the business leader claimed personal betrayals like these destroy trust in the workplace and make those involved a liability to any team. The comments, shared widely online this week, have split opinion on where leaders should draw the line between private lives and professional duties.
A tweet from X.
Along with real estate mogul Grant Cardone, she operates Cardone Ventures, a consulting firm based in the U.S. focusing on scaling businesses. The former model, who now runs 38 e-commerce and digital companies herself, often uses her experience working for high-performance teams to advise clients on growth. Dawson often shares advice on how to build ethical cultures as a leadership author and speaker-a practice that has come under close scrutiny in the wake of her disclosures.
The episode in question aired on The Diary of a CEO podcast on November 10, 2025, hosted by Steven Bartlett. There, Dawson recounted discovering the affair between two employees, both in committed relationships outside the company.
“I found out that she was cheating on her significant other and the other person also had a significant other,”
She said.
“As soon as I caught wind of it, it wasn’t even like a split second decision… I terminated both of them immediately.”
Dawson framed her choice as a safeguard for company values, insisting that personal choices reflect deeper character flaws.
“If they’ll cheat on the person they’re supposed to spend the rest of their life with, they’ll cheat at work too,”
She told Bartlett. She added,
“Do you think that they’re going to have the ethics, morals, and judgment to not be distracted by their own personal ethical situation, and actually focus on doing a good job? That person, in any environment, is a liability.”
The affair, she noted, surfaced in a work-related context, though she maintained she’d act the same off-hours.
“I can’t have cheaters,”
Dawson stressed.
“It’s my job to make people’s success easy… Success for most people isn’t getting a divorce from their significant other.”
She envisioned her firm as a space free from
“lying to each other, and not having a code of ethics,”
Where distractions like this could undermine focus and client trust.
The clip exploded on platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram, amassing millions of views. On X, user @FearedBuck’s post alone drew over 22,000 likes and hundreds of replies, with some hailing Dawson’s “brilliant leadership” for prioritizing integrity. Supporters, including podcaster Anton Daniels, praised her for setting boundaries:
“I have a huge amount of respect for her as a leader… for standing up and having morals and integrity in the workplace.”
Critics, however, called it an overreach.
“This blurs the line between personal and professional boundaries,”
One X user argued, echoing concerns about privacy and fairness. Reddit threads highlighted hypocrisy claims, with users questioning if such strictness applies evenly. The divide underscores broader tensions in startup environments, often described as “chaos” where speed clashes with personal matters.
In the U.S., where Cardone Ventures operates, employers can terminate for off-duty conduct if it harms business interests, like creating distractions or trust issues. Yet, without a clear policy violation such as undisclosed relationships challenges arise under at-will employment rules. The Society for Human Resource Management estimates that up to 50% of employees are affected by a workplace romance, and many firms require disclosure to avoid conflicts, but outright firings for consensual affairs are rare and legally dicey. In the U.K., privacy laws under the Human Rights Act offer stronger protections, prioritizing personal autonomy unless work is directly impacted.
Experts like those at Lexology warn such moves risk lawsuits if not tied to performance. Dawson’s case highlights varying norms U.S. firms lean toward values-driven cultures, while others focus on results over morality.
