If this was really true, I can't imagine why anyone with multiple options to work elsewhere would tolerate his BS.
Personally, I don't care even a bit about Nest. My $30 non programmable thermostat is just perfect. If his head is bloated over that invention, he needs to get it checked.
But one of the article's major points is that they left in droves.
(Additional tangential comment: my Nest Cam, my first and last purchase of something they make, totally sucks.)