Sometimes powerful people just do dumb shit · Westenberg.
Business, Finance & Industries · Apr 13, 2026
The document argues that supporters reframed Elon Musk’s clear operational failures at Twitter (waived due diligence, mass layoffs removing key staff, verification mishandling that enabled an Eli Lilly impersonation, and advertiser flight) as a “hidden strategy,” but outcomes—including a 2026 jury finding Musk liable for misleading investors, rehiring of fired critical staff, and an ~80% loss in company value—show that “visionary founder” explanations must be tested against execution data rather than accepted by default.
Sometimes powerful people just do dumb shit · Westenberg.
Culture & Society · Apr 13, 2026
The essay argues that just-world intuition, pattern-seeking, and status-flattery make people over-attribute coherent 'master plans' to powerful actors, producing unfalsifiable narratives that erode accountability and sustain personality cults, so strategies need upfront, falsifiable criteria and clear milestones.
Sometimes powerful people just do dumb shit · Westenberg.
Business, Finance & Industries · Apr 13, 2026
Extreme prior success can erode decision quality by removing feedback and dissent—Napoleon’s 1812 Russian campaign, driven by overconfidence and an unchallenging inner circle and lacking supply planning or a clear end state, resulted in roughly 500,000 casualties and permanently weakened his military, showing why governance and dissent matter most when leaders are celebrated.
Sometimes powerful people just do dumb shit · Westenberg.
Business, Finance & Industries · Apr 13, 2026
OpenAI’s reported purchase of TBPN is criticized as narrative-control spending that may have diverted capital from core model development, signaling strategic incoherence and potential governance drift unless tied to testable operational objectives.