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Why are they putting their skin in the game? What sort of decisions could WeWork, Tesla, or Amazon make that would ruin the personal finances of Neumann, Musk,

by geofft 8y ago

Why are they putting their skin in the game? What sort of decisions could WeWork, Tesla, or Amazon make that would ruin the personal finances of Neumann, Musk, or Bezos? There is still a corporate abstraction, so while profits turn into bonuses, losses don't turn into personal misfortune for the founders. (Although they may turn into personal misfortune for laid-off employees.) (And yes, the real world is not a fictional caricature.)

rdl 8y ago
Musk has said and shown repeatedly that he'd put his last dollar into SpaceX (and probably Tesla), so he's not a great example here.
- richardknop 8y ago
  Not sure about that. He maintains very luxurious lifestyle. His continuous investment in Tesla could be seen more as an effort to maintain full / majority shareholder control of the company. I don’t think he would sell his house and invest the money in Tesla. He would still be rich even if Tesla goes bankrupt. Plus he has billionaire family members as a fallback.
  - gowld 8y ago
    Who are Musk's billionaire family members?
    - richardknop 8y ago
      His brother is a billionaire also I believe (not as rich as Elon but still that’s a nice safety net to have).
Spivak 8y ago
It puts their reputation on the line. If you destroy the brand $Lastname you can't use it again. "I stake my personal reputation on the reputation of the company I run"
- geofft 8y ago
  What do you need a reputation and a personal brand for if you have two billion dollars?
  - beatgammit 8y ago
    What if you need $10B to reach your goal? You'll need to raise money somehow, and reputation is the deciding factor for many investors. Also, once you become fabulously wealthy, you want something more than financial security, you want to be remembered. Look at the flip Bill Gates did with becoming a leading philanthropist. He doesn't want to be remembered as the evil, anti-competitive CEO of Microsoft during the 90s, he wants to be remembered for his work in the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Trump didn't want to be remembered as the shrewd personality on The Apprentice, he wanted to become President of the United States. Some just want to be extraordinarily rich to make "richest people in the world" lists (that's where I place Larry Ellison). $2B is far from enough for most people to "be remembered".
    - brewdad 8y ago
      So either way, it's all ego. Why should I care at all if I'm "remembered" after I die? I'll be dead. Conan O'Brien's NYTimes interview the other day captured this sentiment exactly. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/arts/television/conan-obrien-tbs-show-reboot-half-hour.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/arts/television/conan-obr... "I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that."
      - magduf 8y ago

by geofft 8y ago

rdl 8y ago

Musk has said and shown repeatedly that he'd put his last dollar into SpaceX (and probably Tesla), so he's not a great example here.

richardknop 8y ago
Not sure about that. He maintains very luxurious lifestyle. His continuous investment in Tesla could be seen more as an effort to maintain full / majority shareholder control of the company. I don’t think he would sell his house and invest the money in Tesla. He would still be rich even if Tesla goes bankrupt. Plus he has billionaire family members as a fallback.
- gowld 8y ago
  Who are Musk's billionaire family members?
  - richardknop 8y ago
    His brother is a billionaire also I believe (not as rich as Elon but still that’s a nice safety net to have).

Spivak 8y ago

It puts their reputation on the line. If you destroy the brand $Lastname you can't use it again. "I stake my personal reputation on the reputation of the company I run"

geofft 8y ago
What do you need a reputation and a personal brand for if you have two billion dollars?
- beatgammit 8y ago
  What if you need $10B to reach your goal? You'll need to raise money somehow, and reputation is the deciding factor for many investors. Also, once you become fabulously wealthy, you want something more than financial security, you want to be remembered. Look at the flip Bill Gates did with becoming a leading philanthropist. He doesn't want to be remembered as the evil, anti-competitive CEO of Microsoft during the 90s, he wants to be remembered for his work in the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Trump didn't want to be remembered as the shrewd personality on The Apprentice, he wanted to become President of the United States. Some just want to be extraordinarily rich to make "richest people in the world" lists (that's where I place Larry Ellison). $2B is far from enough for most people to "be remembered".
  - brewdad 8y ago
    So either way, it's all ego. Why should I care at all if I'm "remembered" after I die? I'll be dead. Conan O'Brien's NYTimes interview the other day captured this sentiment exactly. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/arts/television/conan-obrien-tbs-show-reboot-half-hour.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/arts/television/conan-obr... "I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that."
    - magduf 8y ago