I don't see a distinction between a CEO putting the company before their own personal morals and any other employee. If they're doing so, they probably should q

I don't see a distinction between a CEO putting the company before their own personal morals and any other employee. If they're doing so, they probably should quit. In the case of the CEO, it's arguably even more important that they either quit or change the direction (rules) of the company, as they're uniquely able to do so. As you point out, if they can't do that, they should change jobs. I can see there is a bit of misunderstanding with respect to "the first doesn't matter", and I apologize for not being clearer. The "first" I'm referring to is my first, regarding whether a person's morals and values can/should align with a company's goals. That's a direct response to your "I'm not sure if that matters too much for when he speaks as the Apple's CEO." Same with the second, the idea that a CEO or other employee should surrender their morals to the company's bottom line. You seem to confirm that in your response here ("no they should not surrender their morals, but yes in the context where they speak as the employee and not the person they should keep to the company's line"). We do have some common ground as you acknowledge that there are circumstances where one should change jobs. I'm not sure how to reconcile that with these other statements, however. Tim Cook isn't refusing the task of representing Apple. I argue he's saying the things because he believes them and they're part of Apple's values, rather than in spite of his beliefs and Apple's only doing so because it gives them a competitive advantage. Hard to prove a counterfactual, but I'd think it'd be likely that Apple would do so even if the competition were doing so as well. When you make comments like "Apple the company faces major competition from companies who will directly be hurt by this" and "What I meant is that while it's great, it's also unsurprising", I read that as saying Apple is doing this (and Tim Cook saying this) purely for competitive reasons rather than because they believe it's the right thing to do. To me, that's cynical. It's not my intent to misread you or build a straw man, so please do correct me and expand on what you mean. Edit to add: I think I can summarize this long-winded comment as: “Apple holds these values and that guides the design of their products, and that also gives them a competitive advantage”; as opposed to “Apple says they have these values because it gives them a competitive advantage and that drives their design.” I read you as saying the latter, rather than the former.