Firing the CEO - Board Lessons from OpenAI and Harvard

Harvard University’s governing board did not initially fire Claudia Gay, its president, when she was ambivalent about whether advocating Jewish genocide was against university policy. OpenAI created ChatGPT and brought Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our vocabulary. With no notice, OpenAI’s board fired its CEO, Sam Altman.

The Private Company Director Newsletter, a publication of Directors and Boards, just published my article drawing lessons for boards of directors and other leaders from the decisions of the OpenAI and Harvard boards. Read the article HERE.

Board Lessons from OpenAI and Harvard – Private Company Director

Members of both boards made important decisions mostly based on their personal agendas rather than the best interests of Harvard and OpenAI. The OpenAI board fired their CEO because he was not, in the board members’ minds, sufficiently pursuing their altruistic agenda of running the company “for the benefit of humanity.” The Harvard board did not fire its president because her service expressed the board’s DEI agenda.

In my article, I argue that these decisions are no different than board members advocating for their personal financial interests as a shareholder rather than the interests of all shareholders. Our obligation as board members and as leaders of all organizations is to make decisions for the benefit of the company, non-profit, agency, or university and not our personal interests.

A longer version of this article, further developing the circumstances and lessons learned, is available for download as a PDF HERE.

Florida Palm Tree

I am writing this from Coconut Grove in Miami. To a New England eye, the color and texture of palm trees are a unique joy and wonder.