Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

A company vs its Board of Directors

Botch
Botch Posts: 17,330
in Off Topic

When CEO Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI last Tuesday, he was almost immediately hired by Microsoft.  And within a couple more days, virtually every OpenAI employee threatened to quit and join him at Microsoft.  Today Altman was reinstated as the CEO of OpenAI, and all but one of the Board of Directors have been “voted” out.  And I’m very, very confused.

Having spent virtually my entire career in the DoD/Civil Service, I admit I don’t understand how for-profit business works all that well.  I’d always thought that a “board of directors” basically represented all the oligarchs/stockholders who had funded/invested in a company, and they were free to reward/fire any company leader(s) when their own financial returns didn’t meet their expectations.  But I don’t know.  

Now, all of the sudden, a mercurial leader is fired, and virtually his entire company decides to leave with him; has that ever happened before?  It didn’t happen when Iaccoca was fired from Ford, and didn’t happen when Jobs was fired from Apple; why did it happen now, by almost 100%?  And even more importantly, “WHO” voted out the Board of Directors?  How does that happen?  

I really wish I understood this stuff better (looking forward to next week’s Time issue) and if anyone here has links or books to explain this stuff, I’m all ears.  TIA.  :confused:

"First method of estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
       - Niccolo Machiavelli

Ogden, UT, USA

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,919
    There is no simple answer, it depends… Typically this is defined in the corporation by-laws/incorporation papers.

    Shareholders (of voting shares) are typically voting to elect board members.  

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,919
    Open AI has a « weird » setup, they have a non-profit corporation owned by a for-profit corporation.

    Shareholders of the for-profit are Microsoft & co…

    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • paqman
    paqman Posts: 4,919
    OpenAI structure 



    ____________________
    Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. •Niccolo Machiavelli
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • dbCooper
    dbCooper Posts: 2,678
    paqman said:
    OpenAI structure 



    I believe that diagram sheds more light on the US tax code than it does on OpenAI governance.
    LBGE, LBGE-PTR, 22" Weber, Coleman 413G
    Great Plains, USA
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 17,330
    Yeah, Marquez Brownlee's podcast channel (Waveform Clips) did about a 20-minute discussion on the whole setup (including the above  org chart) and I decided to be glad I'm retired; steam tables are easier to understand than this stuff...
    "First method of estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him."
           - Niccolo Machiavelli

    Ogden, UT, USA

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories