Give him a break; he was mature enough to apologize in public to TechCrunch and the tech community and should be forgiven. The kid seems to understand that his actions were wrong and promises to learn from this experience. I'd like to see the start-up who sent him the gift make the same public apology.
Who says he was offered a bribe? Perhaps he demanded it?
Both parties are still in the wrong since the start-up shouldn't have accepted any of his demands.
I dislike him, imho, for not being able to own up to what he did. Passive voice is not admitting anything. I mean- he might as well say "They crossed a line and I got fired," for he isn't actually admitting any fault.