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This is basically every public company —- Prioritize short term stock price gains over long term growth and sustainability. The only exception are founder run c
by edgefield 3y ago
This is basically every public company —- Prioritize short term stock price gains over long term growth and sustainability. The only exception are founder run companies and perhaps a few public companies with strong culture/mission (e.g., Costco comes to mind). Google is no longer founder led and it threw out its mission several years ago.
- falcolas 3y agoI guess one bonus is that no companies will survive intact to become Cyberpunkesque monopolies with such shortsighted planning. Instead the stock market and its adherents will be (are now?) our overlord.
- darkwizard42 3y agoI don't know, giving Google/randomBigCo leadership too much credit here on even being able to plan long term enough to do that.
- pitched 3y agoThe way biology evolves to adapt is also very shortsighted! Even without long-term planning, it can still make spiders!
- falcolas 3y agoOr, more broadly, crabs. Carcinisation for all!
- zmgsabst 3y agoBiology does that through a try-and-fail approach. Something akin to venture capital, where it makes many, many tries most of which fail and the occasional success moves the field forward. Presumably investors want more reliable returns from mature companies.
- LeonB 3y agoThe survival of the monopolies, monopsonies, oligopolies, oligopsonists is down to whether or not they can defend, protect and retain their monopolies (etc.)
- andsoitis 3y ago> The only exception are founder run companies Page and Brin collectively own 51.2% of Google's voting power. They seem to be happy with the company direction and its leadership.
- mikepurvis 3y agoOwning it and running it are hardly the same though. Their priority is probably also "whatever makes money" at this point, other than occasionally grunting in the direction of AI and other moonshot projects.
- andsoitis 3y ago> Owning it and running it are hardly the same though. While they do not run day to day operations, both are on the board https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35810965 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35810965
- LeonB 3y agoIt’s not founder run though. They have a level of separation from the running of the business. (And even if they were running it, it’s no guarantee that it would stick to any respectable values… just “more likely”… but in their case… still very unlikely.)
- AwaAwa 3y agoPage and Brin are happy that the stock stays up without having to spend any effort running it.
- PaulWaldman 3y agoMaybe they're just apathetic or complacent? Almost like when a hobby feels more like a job or you just get bored with it. With their voting shares, what stakeholders, maybe besides the government, could really exert leverage over them?
- hsjqllzlfkf 3y agoThat's not how capitalism works. If you don't like something about the company, just don't buy the stock. Simple.
- bushbaba 3y agoThat’s not entirely true. Long term growth also impacts stock price and could be preferential for investors.
- jjtheblunt 3y ago> This is basically every public company —- Prioritize short term stock price gains over long term growth and sustainability. Berkshire Hathaway invests in public companies exactly not like you describe, generally seeking companies whose priorities are evident in dividends not share price.
- sidcool 3y agoTesla also prioritises long term