I'm sure Gearbox's PR department are just thrilled with him. I mean even if the article was misrepresenting his words (it was not) a very public hissy-fit is not a good look for any grown arse adult, much less a CEO. I mean, any sane person looking to refute such an article would do this through a prepared statement or even an interview with a competing outlet, not have a twitter tantrum.
I don't follow this kind of thing all that much, but I'm pretty sure every time I've heard Randy Pitchford mentioned it's always been about an incident along very similar lines. I vaguely recall him being called out for the various bullshit that surrounded 'Aliens Colonial Marines' some years back, I think he also had some sort of beef with Jim Sterling last-year-ish(?) and I think I even read somewhere the original voice of Claptrap of all people had some kind of falling out with the guy.
I assume the only reason he hasn't been fired yet is because he holds a controlling interest in the company.
Side note: before anyone comes out with "oh but they're just cosmetic MTX's!", Remember that in the previous two Borderlands games, unlocking cosmetic items was part of the main game, sometimes as a reward for missions, but for often as rare loot from certain bosses and thus a reason for people to keep replaying. By monetising it, they may not be effecting game-play directly, but they're certainly abusing the good will of their player base. Also, how much do you want to bet they'll be reserving the very cool looking cosmetic item for MTX purchase only?