Even if that happens, it’s not the win one might think it is. The capitalist economy serves capital, not CEOs. CEOs are just the best-paid servants of capital. They, especially founders, get a lot of capital themselves but conflating the two is an error and, in our era, largely a consequence of the rise of tech. A generation or so in, we’re seeing that the incredibly rich CEOs can step down without pausing the harm their companies cause. Nadella owns 0.01% of Microsoft. That’s $339 million, so not paltry by any means unless you’re comparing it to Gates’ or even Ballmer’s stakes. Still, we haven’t seen Microsoft shift into non-shittiness and won’t see that under a pivot to AICEOs that survive on electricity and newsfeeds alone. The problem will still be capitalism, even if it doesn’t have a head to cut off.
Even if that happens, it’s not the win one might think it is. The capitalist economy serves capital, not CEOs. CEOs are just the best-paid servants of capital. They, especially founders, get a lot of capital themselves but conflating the two is an error and, in our era, largely a consequence of the rise of tech. A generation or so in, we’re seeing that the incredibly rich CEOs can step down without pausing the harm their companies cause. Nadella owns 0.01% of Microsoft. That’s $339 million, so not paltry by any means unless you’re comparing it to Gates’ or even Ballmer’s stakes. Still, we haven’t seen Microsoft shift into non-shittiness and won’t see that under a pivot to AICEOs that survive on electricity and newsfeeds alone. The problem will still be capitalism, even if it doesn’t have a head to cut off.