, Columnist
A History of Adult Supervision in Silicon Valley
The tech world has long flirted with the idea that young companies need to hire experienced CEOs from the outside.
"Parental supervision" in 2006.
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If Jeff Immelt, the 61-year-old just-retired chief executive officer of the world's leading industrial corporation,1503417508264 really does end up taking the reins of the world's most controversial and valuable tech "unicorn," it will be a first. No one quite that prominent and experienced from the world outside of Silicon Valley has ever been brought in to run one of its companies.
Still, Immelt's potential move to Uber Technologies Inc. does evoke echoes of some past attempts to bring "adult supervision" to bear in the world of tech. Since the days of Bill and Dave at Hewlett-Packard, company founders and their homegrown successors have been dominant in Silicon Valley. But a few big exceptions stand out.