[throw0101c]

> The CEOs that triggered various financialization moves were engineers by background, too

They were engineers by degree. When was the last time they looked at a CFD or FEA model?

I have an EE degree, but haven't looked at antenna or power systems design in many moons: I have no background in them (working sysadmin stuff).

[cqqxo4zV46cp]

What are you proposing then? The CEO not do…CEO stuff? This is a common no true Scotsman argument on HN, where ‘real engineers’ are treated as some sort of shorthand for “someone that has the same values that I do”.

[throw1234651234]

I think he is proposing that tech company CEOs have some hands-on engineering experience at least for a short while. I agree with that - "MBA only" bosses really have no idea what it's like to be on the ground. I can't even emphasize how true this is, "no idea whatsoever" is a huge understatement. I thought they were faking to be lazy at first, but they really don't understand that some people need to actually do the work and what goes into it. And I say that as an MBA/CFA before engineering.

[rrrrrrrrrrrryan]

Many great CEOs of engineering-focused companies are pure suits with no engineering background.

The CEO is mostly a figurehead, whose only actual responsibilities are to manage the investors and build out a leadership team.

Some CEOs take on more, but they really don't need to in order to run a successful company.

[llamaimperative]

The only meaningful proposal is to fundamentally rethink the culture that’s eaten American companies since the 80s.

The fundamental issue is fiduciary duty getting warped by people like Milton Friedman into the modern meme that executives are legally obligated to maximize shareholder profits (effectively always in the short term).

Boeing is just the next of many, many cases of companies being destroyed by capitalism run rampant.