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Who will be the world's next charismatic idolized tech magnates?

mango drank

Member
Think of Elon Musk, or Steve Jobs. They have (had) big personalities, lots of charisma, helped push the world forward in their respective tech domains, and had tons of adoring fans--along with detractors. Steve's gone, and although Elon will hopefully be with us for a while longer, he's getting up there in years. The guy can't burn bright forever.

What up-and-coming tech leaders that most of the public doesn't yet know about will take up that kind of mantle? What guys or girls are relatively less known now, but are making waves and showing signs that they're going to fill those shoes? I'm genuinely curious--I can't think of anyone.

It's not Zuckerberg. He's devoid of charisma and mostly reviled. (Hell, Bill Gates was more charismatic and well-liked around Zuck's age.) Jeff Bezos is older and retired and was never in the spotlight much anyway. Sergey Brin and Larry Page retired early and I have no idea what they're up to now.

Who the hell is out there? Who's next?
 
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it's hard to really guess. tech companies rule the world right now. apple, google, microsoft, facebook, amazon, tencent, tsmc, tesla. before that it was a mix of oil, car, banking, and health companies. it's hard to see what the next big thing is gonna be. my guess would be something space, AI, robotic, or health/cybernetic related.

so, my guess is it'll be whoever replaces the likes of elon, tim apple, pichai, or nadella at a major tech company. or it'll be the ceo of an upcoming company in the AI, robotic, health/cybernetic industry.
 

mango drank

Member
so, my guess is it'll be whoever replaces the likes of elon, tim apple, pichai, or nadella at a major tech company. or it'll be the ceo of an upcoming company in the AI, robotic, health/cybernetic industry.
It's not just successors of existing charismatic leaders of a given company, though. Tim Cook replaced Steve Jobs, but he's not a charismatic public figure with lots of adoring fans like Steve was. And the people who will replace Elon's various functions won't necessarily have the same magnetism either.

Thinking about it, there seem to be a couple common ingredients here:
  • The person needs to lead companies that introduce a series of flashy, disruptive innovations in a relatively short amount of time, which wow the public.
  • The person needs to have a flair for showmanship, able to sell people on big ideas and a bright future.
  • The person needs to be seen as a brilliant creative visionary by the public, in contrast to other conventional paper-pushing profit-chasing CEOs.
  • The person needs to have a relatively unconventional / eccentric personality, setting them apart from others even more.
 
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