The public reaction is what scares them. They are entirely disconnected from the consequences their actions impose on the public and can’t imagine why their “customers” would be cheering the death of their peer. They don’t think Brian Thompson did anything wrong, maximizing shareholder value is a noble goal after all, so from their perspective the public just seems bloodthirsty.
Much like how DC politicians live in a bubble where they think everyone in the US has grocery options and plentiful healthcare (due to how business around DC structures these things so those “leaders” just assume all of the US is like DC), the C suite lives in a tone-deaf rich-person bubble with zero comprehension about what it is like to actually live in the shitty world they orchestrate and manipulate.
Reading some guff about the Kroger-Albertsons attempted merger was case in point. These corpos said: “Oh, if we don’t merge, we can’t compete against Walmart and Amazon, and we’ll have to close stores.” Like, no? What business goes, “hey, so we can’t compete with adjacent-market companies, time to close up the places that generate our revenue!”
Or the recent Congressional vote to spend THREE BILLION OF OUR DOLLARS paying telecom companies to remove Chinese hardware from their networks. Something they were told to do years ago. The same carriers that will continue to raise our service rates every few months are making us (via Congress) pay them OUR money to do what they should have done themselves years ago.
None of these morons get it, they just keep corrupting their way to profits off of our backs, while digging out the ground we stand on from underneath us.
Everyone says this but I disagree. I’m sure Musk and many other public figures are emperors without clothes or whatever. But this idea that most execs are this other species blind to the muck under their boot… but most people are normal people… They may be mean, evil, mentally ill. But they don’t party in the front train car with no idea about the insect bars in the back. They’re just selfish and don’t care. They’re well aware. Don’t give them credit for ignorance by delusion. It’s malice. I make business decisions. I make them in partnership with colleagues. Some are kind. Some are dicks. But they’re intelligent enough to know what decision they’re making. And this transcends boxes. Even some of the most compassionate and empathetic human centric people I’ve ever worked with, proven in actions, not words, are repeat Trump voters. Having said that, most verticals of business are like elected office in that a certain type of person is going to win and get to the top. Oil tycoons know they’re burning the earth for personal gain. Non profit exec takes a big slice of pie, understanding the bookkeeping. They both just believe they should have it. Maybe not even deserve. Many leaders feel ordained to retroactively validate vile means to ends. “I’m on top, so I’m supposed to be on top. I see I stepped on people but that’s okay, because I’m supposed to be on top.” I know wealthy people too and it’s nearly the same. They’re on earth. They see what’s up. Many of them are in your office but just don’t mention cotillion or junior league. Some are kind, some are assholes. Just like all people.
