3 ms·

Tim Cook's education? Are you saying they'll all spend 12 years at IBM, ending at the director level while getting their MBA at Duke, then spend time being a CO

Tim Cook's education? Are you saying they'll all spend 12 years at IBM, ending at the director level while getting their MBA at Duke, then spend time being a COO and VP at other companies, and then finally replacing Tim Cook? Ok fair. I think comparing that to a few weeks of training to run a store is wild.

henryfjordan 5y ago
The headline literally compares them though. Tim Cook is paid 1400x the average worker. Do you think someone working in an Apple store would rather be there than getting an MBA at Duke? or being COO somewhere? Tim Cook was incredibly privileged to get the education and opportunities that he did. I'm not saying he wouldn't be a better CEO than most, but most people don't get to try so we don't know that fact. He's absolutely not 1400x times better than people with similar education. Even Apple isn't doing that well. If luck had him become CEO of IBM instead of Apple we wouldn't be praising him as "extraordinary" just because of circumstance.
- yupper32 5y ago
  Isn't that the point? It doesn't really matter how he gained his education/skills, but he did. And it took 20 years or so. I'd wager that 80% of the English speaking adult US population could be trained to work in an Apple store and do fine within a few weeks.
  - henryfjordan 5y ago
    I mean, sure, but we have to recognize that the path to getting the education/skills was not fair. MBA programs only let in so many people (and certain types of people, if we're being honest). Only so many C-Suite positions exist for you to get management experience in. Getting selected for these opportunities requires luck as much as skill. If you want to talk about compensation like a "fair market" and that there's only 1 Tim Cook so per the rules of supply/demand he can charge a ton for his services, then we have to also acknowledge that the market to acquire those skills is unfair. You cannot base a fair market on the output of an unfair one, they are both unfair. Tim Cook's compensation is unfair.
    - yupper32 5y ago
      > If you want to talk about compensation like a "fair market" and that there's only 1 Tim Cook so per the rules of supply/demand he can charge a ton for his services Yes, I agree with this. > The market to acquire those skills is unfair So far so good. I agree with this. This is why I try to vote for people who support expanding access to education, for example. > You cannot base a fair market on the output of an unfair one, they are both unfair. Tim Cook's compensation is unfair. This is where you lose me. You can't connect the two like that. The unfair path to get to the position of CEO is a separate conversation to what that compensation should be to be considered fair.
ipaddr 5y ago
Why would they need that? They already have the job and could easily pay a MBA Duke grad for advise if needed which probably isn't. 12 years at IBM ending up as director advise could be bought but not sure how important it is. All other CEOs don't share that experience and get on fine without it.

henryfjordan 5y ago

The headline literally compares them though. Tim Cook is paid 1400x the average worker. Do you think someone working in an Apple store would rather be there than getting an MBA at Duke? or being COO somewhere? Tim Cook was incredibly privileged to get the education and opportunities that he did. I'm not saying he wouldn't be a better CEO than most, but most people don't get to try so we don't know that fact. He's absolutely not 1400x times better than people with similar education. Even Apple isn't doing that well. If luck had him become CEO of IBM instead of Apple we wouldn't be praising him as "extraordinary" just because of circumstance.

yupper32 5y ago
Isn't that the point? It doesn't really matter how he gained his education/skills, but he did. And it took 20 years or so. I'd wager that 80% of the English speaking adult US population could be trained to work in an Apple store and do fine within a few weeks.
- henryfjordan 5y ago
  I mean, sure, but we have to recognize that the path to getting the education/skills was not fair. MBA programs only let in so many people (and certain types of people, if we're being honest). Only so many C-Suite positions exist for you to get management experience in. Getting selected for these opportunities requires luck as much as skill. If you want to talk about compensation like a "fair market" and that there's only 1 Tim Cook so per the rules of supply/demand he can charge a ton for his services, then we have to also acknowledge that the market to acquire those skills is unfair. You cannot base a fair market on the output of an unfair one, they are both unfair. Tim Cook's compensation is unfair.
  - yupper32 5y ago
    > If you want to talk about compensation like a "fair market" and that there's only 1 Tim Cook so per the rules of supply/demand he can charge a ton for his services Yes, I agree with this. > The market to acquire those skills is unfair So far so good. I agree with this. This is why I try to vote for people who support expanding access to education, for example. > You cannot base a fair market on the output of an unfair one, they are both unfair. Tim Cook's compensation is unfair. This is where you lose me. You can't connect the two like that. The unfair path to get to the position of CEO is a separate conversation to what that compensation should be to be considered fair.

ipaddr 5y ago

Why would they need that? They already have the job and could easily pay a MBA Duke grad for advise if needed which probably isn't. 12 years at IBM ending up as director advise could be bought but not sure how important it is. All other CEOs don't share that experience and get on fine without it.