Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mark Hurd Has Died

cnbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 209 posts

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#171

Post by jeffdavis »

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…

You are making a lot of assumptions. Maybe he saw himself as creative, and believed he was building important things? Maybe he was a great family man? Maybe his death had nothing to do with overwork? Maybe he did stop caring about money at 40, and continued for other reasons?

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#172

Post by pradn »

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…

This is true on some level, but I can see things from his perspective too. You're getting to work with smart, talented, experienced people, making big decisions that have ramifications in a world-wide industry, mentoring and conversing with juniors, and feeling the gratitude of customers whose lives you've made better. And maybe some of it just the sheer joy of winning. Who knows?

Here I am on a Friday night, casually hanging out on my laptop - between Reddit and Hacker News and watching work tech talks and looking at GitHub issues. A new bug came in. I know several companies depend on me to fix it. It's not urgent, but I'm taking a look at it. I guess it feels good to be useful to other people (looking at the bug), and to feel like part of something bigger than you (the tech talks).

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#173

Post by mellowdream »

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…

Some might say it's the same drive that makes one pursue becoming a CEO in the first place that makes one incapable of giving it up. The whole industriousness characteristic of the five-factor model that men in particular have evolved to take, if you're into that.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#174

Post by tgtweak »

ereyes01 wrote: post #169
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 a long time I fought with a family member using this exact same argument. Eventually, I realized that his only truly happy state is when he is wrapped up and engaged in his work, and even a little stressed by it. I learned the lesson when he had to take some time off of work due to a health problem, and I never saw him more depressed and miserable than when he couldn't work. There's many ways to enjoy life, and n…

Most C levels I know don't consider work to be work in the way you'd consider a 9-5 position - to be in that position with challenges that can take years to overcome, and recognition... Its not a stretch to see why some enjoy it enough to spend their time on it.

I see many in retirement that are just as consumed by their hobbies as they were with their careers.

Spending that time away from family however is difficult to justify.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#175

Post by focal »

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…

This type of authentic and honest response is why I come to HN. Thank you for sharing and I hope you get some good news soon.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#176

Post by biztos »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #167
biztos wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> would we consider them balanced? No, but I never heard anyone say "again, why" about Van Gogh. The why is self-evident in retrospect. I wouldn't put my art before everything else in life, and I'm not saying Mark Hurd did, but I get that some people do and once in a while that results in an incredible gift to humanity. Most of the time it doesn't, but I don't see how you get a Van Gogh without a lot of people giving…

I wouldn't put my art before everything else in life Which is why you're not Mark Hurd or Vincent Van Gogh. Your family will (presumably) remember you fondly, and that's your reward. It will have to be enough. If it is, then good for you. It's not what everybody else wants out of life, and that's OK.

Well I’m not entirely without ambitions for immortality but yes, I assume I’ll never be that immortal and I’m cool with it.

Funny though I bet nobody who didn’t know him personally will remember Hurd in 50 years. Maybe a case study in B-school, but they don’t build monuments to folks who ran other people’s companies. Not that it isn’t crazy hard work, just that I don’t think a Hurd or a Cook is much concerned with their place in history.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#177

Post by biztos »

OnlineGladiator wrote: post #127
biztos wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> would we consider them balanced? No, but I never heard anyone say "again, why" about Van Gogh. The why is self-evident in retrospect. I wouldn't put my art before everything else in life, and I'm not saying Mark Hurd did, but I get that some people do and once in a while that results in an incredible gift to humanity. Most of the time it doesn't, but I don't see how you get a Van Gogh without a lot of people giving…

Van Gogh was utterly miserable though. I don't think he'd consider his life a success. To frame it with someone I know much better, what about Nikola Tesla? Profoundly accomplished, objectively made enormous contributions to engineering that made huge improvements to the quality of life for a large chunk of humanity. He was utterly obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge and nothing else. On his death bed he regretted…

Precisely! If we eliminate all misery we probably lose art in the deal. And then what?

Of course it’s possible to make smaller strides while living a more or less healthy life but I think for some (Tesla, Erdős) it just tips. But then again Erdős was maybe happy with his life...

Sticking with the scientists for a moment, maybe Feinman is exemplary. But are a bunch of Feinmanns enough?

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#178

Post by nugget »

rootusrootus wrote: post #119
ses1984 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

80 years old, 90 hours a week, ok.

I know, to each their own, right? It's earned him a net worth north of a billion dollars, but for him it clearly has nothing to do with the money. He does not really spend much of it at all, he just works. It's like OCD.

I've seen first-hand that it can become a self-reinforcing problem and solution in one. You spend too much time at work and never develop meaningful personal relationships with your spouse and children. Years later, when most people retire to spend time with the spouse and children (and grandchildren), there's something missing, and the solution is to head back to work, where there can be more substantial professional relationships (and room for denial about the personal side).

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#179

Post by marmada »

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…

I feel like this comment is rather insulting. You shouldn't feel sorry for him -- don't assume that he or his family regretted his lifestyle.

Is being the CEO of Oracle not creative? Is there anything wrong with devoting your life to a company? I would say there is nothing wrong with devoting one's life to a startup, so I don't see why there is anything wrong with devoting one's life to being a CEO.

Maybe some people don't want to die in mediocrity.

Re: Mark Hurd Has Died

#180

Post by elsewhen »

blueberry_47 wrote: post #107
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?

With this mentality, we wouldn’t have had women in positions of power or even women voters. Same for people of color etc. I Personally _love_ that some companies, people and countries are bold enough to experiment with unorthodox approaches, because sometimes those ideas work and the rest of us benefit from the learnings.
Post reply on HN