logoalt Hacker News

ElProlactin • today at 2:33 AM • 8 replies • view on HN

> The fact that he slept with a subordinate shows bad judgment, but isn't a huge deal

Most companies have policies that strongly discourage this, or forbid it, and for good reason.

It's a big enough deal that former CEOs of Nestle, Norfolk Southern, McDonald's and Intel were either terminated or resigned after similar relationships were uncovered.


Replies

FabHK • today at 3:28 AM

Correction: Most US companies have policies that strongly discourage this, or forbid it.

In Europe, workplace relationships are considered a private matter as long as workplace peace doesn't suffer, and a ban would be considered legally impermissible. Europeans manage it with disclosure requirements and reassignment, not bans.

➕ show 6 replies
etempleton • today at 3:08 AM

Yes, it is normally a big deal but Jensen is a founder CEO of the biggest company in the world. He would have most likely been given some grace for a single indiscretion. The bigger issue is that he has shown multiple poor judgement choices and the board has to weigh if he is a larger liability than he is an asset at this point.

➕ show 3 replies
tuatoru • today at 3:40 AM

It demonstrates poor judgement, which should be a sackable offense for a CE.

➕ show 1 reply
GIFtheory • today at 3:56 AM

Page, Brin, and Schmidt all dated Google employees. Gates married a Microsoft employee. I’m not sure if any of those folks dated direct reports, but does it really matter when you’re the CEO? Not condoning this behavior, just saying that there’s precedent for it not significantly impacting careers of execs. The spy thing is a another thing entirely.

➕ show 1 reply
sroussey • today at 3:04 AM

But ok at Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, …

➕ show 2 replies
hero4hire • today at 3:45 AM

At an America Monopoly Telecom you know, it is acceptable so long as you wait 365+1 days to marry your affair partner.

CEO of a public company answers to the Board. CEO of a private business do anything they want until caught.

ALLTaken • today at 3:47 AM

That was pre-Trump, afterwards anything seems to go.. none goes to jail and all is for sale, as long as you pay the hand. That's the perception we have as Europeans from live in America.

I think it's stupid to remove such a successful CEO, the public perception of him is still quite damn positive. People say he got balls of steel, chilled in his data-centers and other funny things. Shareholders are stupid. That guy's been running the firm long enough that being removed would disrupt the business so much, that shareholders piss onto their only firewood in winter. Just to be politically correct, or what's the purpose of removing him, what need does it fill? Just reveals reactive, chaotic and unstable business practices.

3) Most things speak against her being a spy and no spy would be this amateurish either. Most people think she's just enriching herself with a structured deal profiting her a lot and whoever pays most for her deals. If nationalism is involved for China, or just greed, we really don't know, but we can assume that she's surely sympathetic to China.

Jensen is just a like-able person who loves the good things in live "in full", food/sex/woman/drinking/company. I'm sure he didn't care about her business as he's a billionaire and has a lot of things to do, than caring about a crappy broker and her structured and layered shady deals.

➕ show 3 replies