This is basically the Lord Farquaad line: "some of you may die, but it is a price I am willing to pay"

I don't think they're tone-deaf as much as they don't care. Which reminds me of another line, this time from Kids in the Hall (from the Girl Drink Drunk sketch): (from memory, so may not be exact) "I can't help to feel responsible for this, but then again, I can't help not to care: that's just who I am")

Note that the complete, non-truncated quote [1] says:

"Ultimately, placing this bet was my call to make and I got this wrong. Now, we have to adjust. As a consequence, we have to say goodbye to some of you today and I’m deeply sorry for that."

Emphasis added, but perhaps some part of this apparent tone-deafness might be attributed to the omission?

[1] https://news.shopify.com/changes-to-shopifys-team

I question "we have to say goodbye"

I worked for a small business. The CEO and other executives were generally ethical people. When revenue went down, the C-level executives took a pay cut to ensure others could stay. They knew they could weather it better than their employees. Their salaries were always some of the lowest even before that, because they had a stake in the business that the employees did not have.

Given how much money this person makes, how much of a safety net they likely have compared to their employees, it doesn't make much sense that they do not redistribute their personal wealth to help the people they are "deeply sorry" to "say goodbye to"

I commented about this when it happened and was met with vitriol. Nice to see people here have some sense.