“They’re all really stupid”: Redditor shares his experience working with CEOs, and netizens react

A post on Reddit sparked a heated debate about workplace privilege and leadership quality after a professional shared how years of working closely with top corporate executives left him feeling completely disillusioned. The user said in the post that he has worked directly with many CEOs and senior executives across mid-sized companies — and found a recurring pattern among them.

According to him, most of them were “stupid, sheltered children” who collapsed under basic pressure and used their family connections to stay in power.

“I have personally worked closely with many CEOs of mid-sized companies, all of whom are frankly very stupid and selfish people,” he wrote. “They are almost mentally challenged by this important, high-paying position.”

He claimed that in his experience, these executives had little real skill or perspective, but enjoyed a safety net of inherited networks and privileges. “It was always, ‘Jason was my dad’s roommate at the Ivy,’ and Jason would end up bidding 250% higher — and somehow still get the deal,” he said. “It’s just a giant circle of gatekeeping and elitism.”

The Redditor also criticized how isolated and fragile these leaders are. “They’re supposed to be resilient leaders, but they get red in the face over stupid things like rain on a golf day with a client. A bunch of up to no good,” he wrote.

The post quickly went viral and gained traction on Reddit, where users chimed in to share their own observations from various sectors – from technology and finance to manufacturing and media. “In high technology, and perhaps now in many business sectors, there has been a lot of writing about successful executives who have sociopathic tendencies and behaviors,” one user wrote.

Another user said, “Once you realize that you are viewed as a disposable resource, the picture becomes clearer. If you are not considered valuable, they will just separate the useless piece and replace it with another.”

“A lot of them have gone straight from university into a management role,” said another Redditor. A fourth user commented: “Only one out of the 50 people I met has built something from scratch – a company that has grown from nothing to 120 employees.”

Some users took the discussion beyond personality and skill, focusing on what true wealth and privilege mean in a corporate environment.

“This is what most of us don’t realize about wealth,” one commenter wrote. Another user said: “It’s not just about having stuff – it’s about living in a completely different reality. A reality where no mistake destroys you, no consequences occur, and there’s no disaster you can’t buy your way out of. This feeling of psychological safety is what the rest of us lost in 2020 and never see again.”