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Mark Hurd Has Died

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Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#101

Post by coldtea »

clavalle wrote: post #98
VonGuard wrote: post #15

I feel really bad for Hurd and his family. Why work that hard? The 24/7 CEO lifestyle seems like such a waste of time if you end up working it to the day you die. Like, why work that hard? For the family you never see? The vacation home you can visit for 5 days a year? The yacht you leave parked 360 days a year? The job is so demanding and so hard it seems like Mark worked himself to death, literally. He probably cou…

For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. That's the nice take on it. For others (or from a different perspective) for some making money itself is a bit of an addiction that swallows everything else. I know a great guy -- very kind, very smart. But he doesn't really know how to have fun if he's not making money. That's his game and he's great at it. But I feel like he's missing ou…

>For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession.

Again, why?

If it wasn't "making and guiding companies", but e.g. someone was obsessed with making spaghetti paintings, and working for it the same hours, would we consider them balanced?

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#102

Post by jvagner »

VonGuard wrote: post #15

I feel really bad for Hurd and his family. Why work that hard? The 24/7 CEO lifestyle seems like such a waste of time if you end up working it to the day you die. Like, why work that hard? For the family you never see? The vacation home you can visit for 5 days a year? The yacht you leave parked 360 days a year? The job is so demanding and so hard it seems like Mark worked himself to death, literally. He probably cou…

Watching a 70 year old John Chambers pitching his new $230mm+ funded cloud business the other day... had the same question/thought.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#103

Post by jvagner »

johnpowell wrote: post #86
eigenvalue wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without knowing the cause of death, I think it's premature to say that he worked himself to death. It was probably some kind of cancer that probably would have happened anyway. The bigger question I think is, if he could do it over again, would he have tried to spend more of his short time on earth with his family and relaxing/enjoying life rather than working? And even that is not so clear cut-- it may well be that…

Last year I was diagnosed with neck/mouth cancer. I did three months of radiation and chemo and it cleared it up. Then two months later I went in for a PET scan and the cancer had spread to my liver. So more ration for that. Then six months later another PET scan and the cancer popped up in a new place on my liver. I'm currently on Pembrolizumab and my oncologist wants to give that a few months and see how the lesion…

Thanks for sharing. Wishing you the best.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#104

Post by rchaud »

tempsy wrote: post #65

I see his life as a warning more than anything else. A person spending his entire adult life working non-stop, climbing the corporate ladder, and then to die so young...

It wasn't all work. Look into why he was ushered out as HP CEO.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#105

Post by bradstewart »

coldtea wrote: post #101
clavalle wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. That's the nice take on it. For others (or from a different perspective) for some making money itself is a bit of an addiction that swallows everything else. I know a great guy -- very kind, very smart. But he doesn't really know how to have fun if he's not making money. That's his game and he's great at it. But I feel like he's missing ou…

> For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. Again, why? If it wasn't "making and guiding companies", but e.g. someone was obsessed with making spaghetti paintings, and working for it the same hours, would we consider them balanced?

No. But that's ok. Why does everyone have to be balanced?

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#106

Post by clavalle »

coldtea wrote: post #101
clavalle wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. That's the nice take on it. For others (or from a different perspective) for some making money itself is a bit of an addiction that swallows everything else. I know a great guy -- very kind, very smart. But he doesn't really know how to have fun if he's not making money. That's his game and he's great at it. But I feel like he's missing ou…

> For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. Again, why? If it wasn't "making and guiding companies", but e.g. someone was obsessed with making spaghetti paintings, and working for it the same hours, would we consider them balanced?

I mean, why are there people who dedicate themselves and a huge chunk of their time on this Earth to a sports team? Or finding the best food? Or travel to the prettiest most interesting places? Or going to the best parties? There are plenty of those. That's even more of a mystery to me. At least the person building a company is creating something and doing something for others.

Balance has a cost, too. I consider myself pretty balanced. And I'm happy being balanced. Mostly. But I understand that I will never be truly great at anything. As long as I insist on balance, I will only ever be pretty good. Luckily enough, pretty good has been good enough. But still, I wonder what it would be like to pick one horse and ride it.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#107

Post by blueberry_47 »

jkcorrea wrote: post #31

Obviously this is very sad news and I wish all the best & my condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. I'm not very familiar with how Oracle is run, but it surprised me to see "co-CEO". I always assumed this wasn't a great way to run a company, and yet here is a major exception. Can someone enlighten me as to why Oracle chooses to have co-CEOs? Is it something specific to their business?

Look, it doesn't take a genius to know that any organization thrives when it has two leaders. Go ahead, name a country that doesn't have two presidents. A boat that sets sail without two captains. Where would Catholicism be without the popes?

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#109

Post by thrav »

coldtea wrote: post #101
clavalle wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. That's the nice take on it. For others (or from a different perspective) for some making money itself is a bit of an addiction that swallows everything else. I know a great guy -- very kind, very smart. But he doesn't really know how to have fun if he's not making money. That's his game and he's great at it. But I feel like he's missing ou…

> For some of the best, making and guiding companies is their art and obsession. Again, why? If it wasn't "making and guiding companies", but e.g. someone was obsessed with making spaghetti paintings, and working for it the same hours, would we consider them balanced?

They probably believe they are working for the betterment of the lives of the thousands of people in their organization. There are at least 100 people in that company they know personally and care about, and they're all rolling up to and depending upon them.

Some of them have kids with medical issues. Some of them have dedicated the same number of years directly supporting him.

If that person feels like those people would all be worse off without them, if he felt Oracle would tank much harder than it has if he stepped away, I could see that weighing on a good person.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#110

Post by aa88990 »

Mark Hurd was a lying SOB at HP. He lied to Congress about the Board leaks. He had a steel trap mind and remembered every detail of everything at HP. When Congress asked about his knowledge of the investigation of the leaks, he said"I can't remember...it was not my finest hour". Total lies!!!! He knew everything! After those lies, he proceeded to fire everyone involved that knew about his lies!!!! The Board finally fired him shortly after that for cheating on his expense reports to coverup a sexual relationship he tried to have (she rebutted him!) Regarding his death, what goes around comes around!!!!
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