re: #382 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Is Steve Jobs the rule or the exception?

I’d argue he’s the exception to the rule on management. He’s one of the few people who had a real vision and a knack for knowing the kinds of products people wanted (even if the tech wasn’t quite ready for it).

There are a few other owners/founders who have similar abilities, Bill Gates at MSFT and Larry Ellison at Oracle. They built those companies into the powerhouses that they are.

Someone at GM, Kodak, or other established company whose founders are long dead? Not so much. The head of Chase or BoA or Kodak? Definitely not. Those are companies in transition, flawed, and bordering on bankruptcy. Do those CEOs/Boards deserve the compensation packages they’ve got? I don’t think so - and while some of those getting paid are being paid to turn the companies around, the compensation is not in line with the company performance.

Firing thousands of employees to try and cut costs creates the potential death spiral and widens the management/employee compensation chasm. Getting bonuses to do so makes the situation even more egregious - particularly when the share price doesn’t respond (often a key factor in the business decisions - boost share prices as a sign you’re doing well).