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Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

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Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#61

Post by notyourday »

georgeglue1 wrote: post #37
notatoad wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who they decide to appoint will only be interesting if they appoint somebody interesting, which seems unlikely. Larry Page is still running the show, and moving from an executive chairman to a non-executive chairman will probably only mean that the board has less power than they did before. Odds are they appoint somebody politically well-connected, and that person then gets to use the "chairman of the board at alphab…

Interesting. Obama could be a good bet if he would take the job. (Perhaps the departure was predicated on Obama agreeing in advance)

If Google offers job to Obama you may as well short Google.

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#63

Post by CalChris »

bennettfeely wrote: post #59

At the bottom of this thread is a comment by 'AmIFirstToThink' which has been inexplicably marked "dead". It seems to be the only reply as of writing this that makes the connection of Schmidt's stepping down to his strong bets during the 2016 election. A little-noticed WSJ piece from October would support that idea: > [Google] Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by wor…

Schmidt is 62 and worth $13B. Maybe he just decided to do something else.

I'm sure Google has plenty of clout in DC. They have 600+ lobbyists and a huge budget.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/30/google-si...

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#64

Post by em3rgent0rdr »

bennettfeely wrote: post #59

At the bottom of this thread is a comment by 'AmIFirstToThink' which has been inexplicably marked "dead". It seems to be the only reply as of writing this that makes the connection of Schmidt's stepping down to his strong bets during the 2016 election. A little-noticed WSJ piece from October would support that idea: > [Google] Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by wor…

What do HN people think about a law to prevent corporate executives from giving money to politicians?

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#65

Post by sowbug »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #64
bennettfeely wrote: post #59

At the bottom of this thread is a comment by 'AmIFirstToThink' which has been inexplicably marked "dead". It seems to be the only reply as of writing this that makes the connection of Schmidt's stepping down to his strong bets during the 2016 election. A little-noticed WSJ piece from October would support that idea: > [Google] Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by wor…

What do HN people think about a law to prevent corporate executives from giving money to politicians?

You mean overturning Citizens United (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC) and McCutcheon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCutcheon_v._FEC).

A law that targeted corporate executives would have no chance of surviving the legal precedent of those two cases. It wouldn't do much to solve the problem of dollars having more influence these days than one-person-one-vote in the U.S., but hey, don't let me stop you.

Easy reading about those cases: https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/04/22/14611/mccutcheon-...

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#66

Post by [deleted] »

justboxing wrote: post #56
bertil wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone wondering: there have been some rumours that Eric Schmidt has been indiscrete in the past, more specifically that he described that he had an “open marriage” and that he had relations with “exotic dancers”. As far as I can tell, there is no reason to think that his close collaborators at Google didn’t know about and discovered something unsavoury recently. More to the point, there is no reason to think his…

More than rumors. Apparently he had 1 of his many mistresses sign a "confidentiality agreement."[1] This is the kind of stuff Dave Chappelle used to joke about lol, in his "Love Contract" piece[2]. Can't believe someone actually did it - i.e. have the other person sign a confidentiality agreement before a consensual (sometime paid) sexual encounter. [1] Source: Google CEO and serial womanizer Eric Schmidt spends $15…

[deleted]

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#67

Post by r00fus »

andrew_ wrote: post #60
georgeglue1 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obama could personally call any world leader and talk about taxes, privacy, regulation, etc. with authority. He would also be generally pragmatic, likable, and qualified.

Objectively speaking, he would generally be considered likable by about 47.9 [1] of the voting public. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that the vast majority of employees of either Alphabet or Google would agree with your assessment, and indeed likely most in the tech sector. But I'm not sure any polarizing figure would be a good fit outside of those niches. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presi…

47.9% (on average) approval rating by Americans for his job as President (and consequently positions his cabinet, Congress and his party took). It's a barometer of how Americans feel about the USG, too.

If you polled him right now across worldwide audience about his stature, it would probably be north of 70%.

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#68

Post by pavs »

jamiesonbecker wrote: post #16

One of the most interesting debates was between Eric Schmidt and Peter Thiel back in 2012, especially in the positions that Eric staked out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsXFwy6gG_4

Wow, Peter Thiel, is annoying, to say the least. He sounds like someone who lives in a bubble that is completely decoupled from the real world. He doesn't even let anyone else make any point.

Am I even allowed to say all these without getting sued or banned?

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#69

Post by frik »

bennettfeely wrote: post #59

At the bottom of this thread is a comment by 'AmIFirstToThink' which has been inexplicably marked "dead". It seems to be the only reply as of writing this that makes the connection of Schmidt's stepping down to his strong bets during the 2016 election. A little-noticed WSJ piece from October would support that idea: > [Google] Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by wor…

Thanks for pointing out, would have overseen the hidden comment - it gets harder and harder to read insightful news and comments here, as they get hidden/flagged for no apparent reason. (Maybe limit the system to upvote-only, it works for other sites.)

Re: Eric Schmidt to become technical advisor to Alphabet

#70

Post by [deleted] »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #64
bennettfeely wrote: post #59

At the bottom of this thread is a comment by 'AmIFirstToThink' which has been inexplicably marked "dead". It seems to be the only reply as of writing this that makes the connection of Schmidt's stepping down to his strong bets during the 2016 election. A little-noticed WSJ piece from October would support that idea: > [Google] Employees donated $1.6 million to her campaign, about 80% more than the amount given by wor…

What do HN people think about a law to prevent corporate executives from giving money to politicians?

[deleted]
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