I find it strange that the CFO who was in place and in charge of the key financial decisions that helped lead to 2U’s current situation has been elevated to CEO.
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You've never heard of failing upwards??
You all just don’t get it. Ultimately the direction a company goes is the CEO and the board. The number of bullsh-t things that many executive/c level folks pushed back on - summer Fridays when co was in a bad financial spot (basically 7+ additional full days of pto for all, not budgeted for), chip refusing to admit there was a problem in general, rto then not rto then rto but only for some - also chip bc people in the office with him fed his ego. Unlimited pto- we haven’t been able to change it bc Chip didn’t want to go back on a something he thinks made him popular (some may remember he on a whim announced it in a Q and A before HR was remotely ready to roll it out - a total mess). All of these things were Chip. Much if not most of rest of the co leadership, after trying hard to convince him otherwise, had to find ways to implement with as little pain as possible for strong employees. Sure Paul probably had input on the edX decision - but also consider that Harsha was the one who aligned with Chip it would pay for itself. Chip was a salesman (as is Harsha) and he sold well to his board. He also punished anything he felt was disloyalty toward his vision (Mark Chernis). A lot of people still really believe in what 2u does at heart and, even at the highest levels, stick around and risk reputations bc they truly want to turn it around and care about the people they work with. The problem was the board should have fired Chip at least a year ago (probably 2). I would bet that one of the things that made it finally happen is that our lenders wouldn’t negotiate anymore with him in charge. Not defending Paul- but Chip thought he was and acted like a King- down the most ridiculous of decisions he should have trusted the experts on his team to lead. The people who allowed him to get away with that were the board members (and investors who didn’t see through him) - bc they were the only ones truly empowered to make a change.
Post ID: @1blr+1pTZkE97, that could be true...but common sense says that 1+1 does not = 3, as you would seemingly have us all believe. Paul L. Could Not Have Been Powerless in his role as CFO, as Chip was planning and implementing financial strategies!
So where a C suite role/direct experience may be missing on my end, common sense appears to be void on your's.
@1sfo+1pTZkE97 Has never worked in a C Level position. Lmfao
Post ID: @why+1pTZkE97, that rationale doesn't fly in the real world!
As Chip was pushing his financial ideas - if top financial guy, Paul, didn't agree or support those plans, Paul would have made decisions to take care of his own interest. Such as his professional reputation and, who knows, possibly the need to save his own skin in the event that not all was/is on the up and up.
His job, from the start, was to produce at the highest roles @ the financial decisions.
Rest assured, if 2u had turned out to be a success, he'd have taken all types of credit for that-- as the head financial guy!
His job is to get the debt refinanced. For that, he is the best. I would not be surprised if, despite him not being labeled as “interim”, once that happens Matt or someone else becomes CEO. Also, just bc he was CFO around the time of ed x doesn’t mean he made any final decisions. Chip did what he wanted and his board let him- regardless of input from other C suite folks.
And the CLO becomes the CFO...
Almost like they don’t want people looking at the books 🤔