Hock Tan is clearly a genius—one of the sharpest operators and capital allocators in tech. Just look at his flawless record in M&A, dividends, and stock performance. But somehow, despite all that brilliance, he’s managed to completely drop the ball when it comes to Symantec. Let me explain why, IMHO:
• Symantec is basically a museum of old technologies, propped up by sticky customers with zero growth potential. Exciting stuff, right?
• The Symantec execs? Oh, they’re pros alright—at creating PowerPoints, Excel masterpieces, and spouting buzzwords. They’re also experts at playing politics and perfecting the art of putting lipstick on a pig.
• Their favorite move? “X didn’t work because of Z. But wait! Let’s try X+Y-W instead. Give us a year or two, and we’ll figure it out!” Rinse and repeat.
• The real game here is obvious: they’re just stalling until their millions in RSUs vest. These execs are in the twilight of their careers and focused on amassing AVGO stock to fund their retirement dreams. The dividend checks alone will keep them comfortable for life. Shareholders? Yeah, they’ve been milked dry.
Hock needs to stop indulging this circus and get back to basics. Here’s the playbook:
- Ignore all the polished BS. Just look at hard numbers: revenue per HC, profit per HC, cost vs ROI per HC, etc.
- Fire every director and above—no exceptions. They are the problem. Yes, they’ll kick and scream and try to scare Hock and customers, but let’s be honest—it’s all smoke and mirrors. Elon Musk could give you a masterclass on this.
- Set crystal-clear financial targets for teams. Forget the buzzwords, keep it simple: hit the numbers or don’t.
- Bring in a few new execs who actually understand finance and ROI. And if you can’t find any, promote managers who can actually code. Yes, they exist—use them.
And if none of this works (though it will), just divest Symantec. Problem solved.