Opinion-in-brief: The perils and profits of rockstar chief executives
Something strange is happening in boardrooms. Chief executives are stepping into the limelight. Gone is the stereotype of an austere workaholic, replaced by a trendy go-getter who’s just as comfortable pouring over an Excel spreadsheet as they are curating their Instagram feed.
There are two prime examples of the archetypal rockstar CEO. Elon Musk went from being the King of Nerds, to marrying Grimes and naming his last kid “X Æ A-12”. Likewise, Bezos who sold books in the 1990s, has transformed into a beefed-up space explorer.
Today’s CEOs realise that they can build identities distinct from their business, in a way the likes of Henry Ford and W.K. Kellogg never could.
Having worked with cabinet ministers and world leaders, I’m seeing that the communications strategies adopted by modern CEOs are not all that different from those traditionally adopted by our elected leaders.
There are of course pitfalls to having a CEO with such a strong personal brand. Famously, Musk choosing to smoke a joint with Joe Rogan on his podcast led to a 10% dip in Tesla’s share price.
Investors judge CEOs on their personal profile, just as much as they do on the more conventional metrics of business nous. In the age of all-consuming celebrity Rockstar CEOs are here to stay, for better or worse.