How can a company change so much for the worse in just a few short years? I still can't wrap my head around it.
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@1dx Agree. It does feel like things started going downhill around 2016.
The firm insists it is distinct from its founder, but it has clearly accepted that its largest shareholder openly aligns himself with this regime. From standing in the Oval Office celebrating what many see as market manipulation, to attending a state dinner honoring a brutal authoritarian, the optics are obvious and the firm appears unbothered. Silence from “leadership” in moments like this isn’t neutrality. It’s endorsement.
That silence has continued as federal actions in Minneapolis escalate, including fatal shootings of Americans by federal agents. It’s hard not to recall how quickly the firm moved to declare politics “too divided” after the failed insurrection led by Chuck’s ally, while now it remains silent..
Credit where it’s due, though. Chuck and his wife do appear to have skipped the Melania documentary screening!
As an employee, I felt a strong shift in 2016, culminating in Chuck literally stating in that town hall meeting, which debuted his documentary, that his biggest regret was not having used the Amazon model from the beginning. : ( Then we learned of the appointment of his granddaughter fresh out of college, the "partnership" between Schwab and Trump, saw Chuck at the WH being recognized for the $2B he made on the Trump tip, and then at the MBS dinner …. : ( Not sure whatever happened to that "partnership" they announced either unless BofA got it.
Chuck has been a billionaire for decades, but over the past few years, he has become more aligned with the bond villain billionaires. God forbid anyone speaks out, challenges anything, because you'll be labeled a "detractor." Then leadership outsources its job to McKinsey. CEOs today are hired to extract value, not build companies. I know there are a lot of employees who didn't like Walt, but I think the biggest shift in "culture" came when they began onboarding the current in 2023, with RTO and the October layoffs.
Leadership is completely absent across every huge campus. In its place, inexperienced, mouthy, bully opportunists
You could have said MAGA.
Well when you go woke and promote a bunch of inexperienced, know it all, self absorbed millennials with no leadership skills that’s what happens.
When you go all in on an email for MLK Day but stop sending them or even acknowledging Thanksgiving, Christmas and the 4th of July you’re sending a big message.
Woke has won, it’s not going anywhere and it has seriously hurt their culture. Leadership is completely absent across every huge campus. In its place, inexperienced, mouthy, bully opportunists have taken over who may say all the right things and plan bonding activities but truly have no meaningful experience or leadership skills.
Greeeeeeeed!
Yeah, I remember when leadership emphasized character. Walt talked about humility, how you treat people without power, watching how someone reacted when their breakfast order was wrong as a test of values. It’s hard not to wonder what that character test looks like today under McKinsey leadership.
Are you now being observed to see whether you can tell if your order is “to scale,” quickly flag inefficiencies, and, most importantly, decide whether the server should be eliminated for failing to optimize delivery?
Trust and integrity may still be invoked, but they ring hollow when the firm’s largest shareholder attends a state dinner honoring an authoritarian figure like MBS, known for brutality and repression. That choice tells you everything you need to know about where the firm’s values lie today.
It is clear that trust and integrity have been replaced by power, access, and maximizing wealth as the firm’s guiding principles.
McKinsey explains the how, not the why.
At some point over the past five to ten years, the firm’s mission shifted from expanding access for everyday investors to maximizing shareholder value. With the largest shareholders setting direction, the culture reorganized to serve them.
One only has to look at the public EDGAR filings, which provide a record of the millions cashed in by top leadership in recent years, to confirm that shift.
McKinsey
DEI