[MichaelZuo]

This doesn't seem true, reputation, status, credibility, etc., clearly have some nonzero value?

If anything, competitive people looking to climb the social ladder tend to be even more viscious when it comes to status games than the Gordon Geckos of the world.

[utensil4778]

> reputation, status, credibility, etc., clearly have some nonzero value?

Yes, the stock price. As long as number goes up, everything is fine.

[MichaelZuo]

Is this supposed to be ironic?

My point is that people clearly value things beyond the 'number that goes up', often to an even more intense degree.

[utensil4778]

People do, yes. But corporate executives and shareholders are not people and fundamentally do not have the capacity to care what "people" think or value.

The decision makers want the number to go up, and they want it to go up now, not ten years from now.

There's a very good reason that all of the biggest companies are eating themselves from the inside out right now. Making the number go up right now is far, far more valuable than making sure it stays up after they get their bonus.