this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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It's the same for many tech CEO's. Arguably, Apple hasn't had a hit under Tim Cook, although I'd say he's definitely the most successful of the FAANG leaders. Andy Jassy's legacy at Amazon is 18 months of rolling layoffs, missing the boat on AI despite having the most popular consumer AI product in Alexa, and forcing millions into an office in some of the cruelest methods possible. Sundar is much of the same, but including mass enshitification of basically every successful Google product, from YouTube to Search, all while also fucking up severely with AI, RTO, and layoffs. To make things worse, he's turned the most exciting tech company into just another boomer tech company like IBM.
The pandemic has shown that once the visionaries have left, the current crop of CEO's in tech are just really not good at their jobs. Their sole role is to keep shareholders happy, and that's it. As a shareholder, that should probably make you think twice about putting money into legacy tech, and maybe looking outwards to see what those that were laid off have managed to do elsewhere.
None of the CEOs you’ve mentioned have changed before or after the pandemic except AMZN.
I think it’s unfair to say Tim Cook hasn’t had a hit. They started the watch line up, AirPods, the M series chips are some solid products and revenue streams. Also while he may not be a “visionary” I think he is done a mighty fine job of making AAPL one the best brands to exist.
The economic climate changed since the pandemic and the cards dealt now are a bit difficult compared to the low 0% interest rate times.
All I’m saying is, I disagree with your opinion by adding my two cents, but to each their own :)
Yeah, admittedly Tim Cook is a stretch. He's no Steve Jobs, but I don't think trying to replace him would work either. Ultimately, the only role he can play is the one he's dealt, but given that they're also one of the biggest companies on the planet Apple haven't really "innovated" anywhere. They're also guilty of missing the ball on AI, especially with Siri essentially becoming the third-place voice assistant.
I'm not so sure I agree with the economic reaction in tech, but I am biased in that I work for one of these companies, and have a first-hand view in how these companies are cutting jobs while making insane profits, and demanding innovation with fewer resources than ever. My point around the pandemic is less to do with the change of CEO's, and more to do with the climate highlighting that in a pinch, these CEO's have done a poor job. I could go on for hours about this, but they praise themselves for the work their companies do, while admitting that they over-hired, and wasted huge sums of money in industries that aren't ever going to generate profits. Google is burning huge sums of money on LLM's, Amazon have spent enough money on MGM and ROP to effectively keep every laid-off employee employed on full-pay for a full year, Zuck has also bet big on AI despite burning cash on VR/AR. To some degree, all big tech companies have been poorly run by "safe" bets at the helm.