> A lot of tech companies end up shooting themselves by putting too much power into the CEO, so that when the MBA takes over it turns into a corporate pillaging operation.
replyYou're describing the opposite scenario. Generally it's the founders who get a special class of shares which allows them to retain control over the company even when they own <5% of the stock. Without that the company becomes controlled by Wall St. who appoint the MBA to loot and pillage.
Wall Street rarely appoints CEOs, that's the job of the board. And those members generally get there via investment into the company (usually before it goes public).
replyThe MBAs get there often because it's who the board picks when the founder retires.
The board is chosen by the shareholders in the absence of some arrangement to the contrary (e.g. the special class of shares), and for a large publicly traded company, the major shareholders are generally going to be large investment funds, i.e. Wall St.
replyThe main thing the special class of shares does is make it hard for them to oust the founder when the founder doesn't want to retire. Once they choose to, they either use their special votes to choose a worthy successor, or they stop caring and you get the default MBA you'd have had regardless.