Today’s CEOs are essentially carnival barkers (2021)
In a world where people work less and less and participate in culture more and more it only makes sense that CEOs become essentially influencers, self-promoters and politicians.<p>The stock price isn&#x27;t seen as a KPI anymore, back in the days businessmen would make sure the company would sell quality products and services in the real world and then the stock price going up was just a mere consequence of that.<p>Nowdays it&#x27;s all about transforming the company into a mission, a political movement or an outright cult. The stock is seen as a something to sell and if you can do so without any product sold in the real world then it&#x27;s so much better because as a CEO you managed to efficiently skip a very labor-intensive and capital-intensive process to get to what you really want: Market Cap glory.<p>It used to be that corporate America had a certain arrogance of being superior to politics, religion and cults. People who resorted to that were singled out as desperate and it was the hint that their company was about to go under.<p>Nowadays it&#x27;s the opposite: CEOs and companies which don&#x27;t shitpost, don&#x27;t talk politics and don&#x27;t try to recruit people in their cults are left behind.<p>It&#x27;s &quot;fake it till&#x27; you make it&quot; on an unprecedented level out there. And the worst offender is the one is worshipped the most on here, irony because game should recognize game.<p>I think if we coldly examine the moves like in a chess game, he&#x27;s doing all the right things to be successful in this environment.<p>As I said when the population consumes culture at an unprecedented rate, you gotta become culture to be relevant. Hate the game, not the player.