Tech CEOs are addicted to taking needless risks

THERE’S a new law of the land taking root in Silicon Valley: the more technology makes us laypeople replaceable, the more the technocrats building it are considered indispensable.

That’s been good for the tech titans, many of whom are among the richest in the world and have watched their wealth and power grow alongside the rise of new tools such as artificial intelligence (AI). But it’s been more complicated for the companies they rule, saddling them with what’s known as key-person risk – when a single individual’s very existence is tied to an organisation’s performance and value.

And as if that wasn’t perilous enough, there’s something else going on with these so-called key people: they just can’t seem to stop taking risks.