[stephencanon]

She’s not much of a CEO if loyalty to her friend trumps the best interests of the company in (what should be) a purely professional decision.

Her friend isn’t much of a friend if he lets a purely professional decision interfere with their non-professional relationship.

[ericd]

Almost nothing in business is purely professional, that's like ignoring friction in physics problems. And when it approaches that state, the results can be pretty amoral and scary. Part of being a good CEO is being a good human. Companies aren't perfect abstractions from the underlying humanity, nor should they be.