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"Tank the stock now or (possibly) a week from now" is not a hard question for a board member
Everything exists to perpetuate itself. By definition. The first cell that became multiple set us on a course of forever wanting to do more, bigger, better. This is a measurable phenomenon. The people on the board might be 'unaccountable and stupid' but they're still acting on that maximization principle.
I'd apologize for promising 3 paragraphs but kinda proud of that summary, if you have more questions this is quite a fun exchange
Cool, I've got a few more questions.
I mean, to some extent. There are of course local maxima, and they may be maximizing over the next week. But what about beyond that? The head of that board that releases that statement looks unaccountable and stupid, which should, in theory, reduce others' ability to trust him in future years. Whereas by staying silent, he gets no such potential reputational damage.
If you told me that all boards don't really look beyond 1 week in the future, well, I don't have evidence to contradict you, because in my personal experience, the ones I've worked with have been very short-sighted. However, I would have hoped that there are at least some (hopefully more than just some) organizations that actually think about things on a longer-term scale.
Meanwhile, looking at it the other way, what would happen if a board made no such statement when there's a dead man walking? Does their statement do anything to actually help the situation? By keeping their mouths shut, would they get the best of both worlds, assuming the stock doesn't immediately tank just because they failed to make a statement that they don't actually believe anyway.
Also, talking about Cheatle, I don't think there's any stock involved, so what's at stake for the Secretary of Homeland Security to keep his mouth shut instead of endorsing her?
Sorry about the delayed response! Real life stuff
But our hypothetical member of the board gains reputational benefit from showing they are a team player who are willing to say the emperor has a great new outfit up until the very moment they say he doesn't.
The Catholic Church has existed for 2,000 years - I'd imagine they've been doing something right just based on that
It's a move that accrues the benefit of showing the next emperor they'll have 'full support' up until the moment they don't and a soft landing on the way out. Nobody wants to replace the guy who was just openly couped by the mayor of the palace
See above, the next head of the Secret Service is assured that they'll have everyone's 'full support' right up to and after the moment they're shown the door
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