Mark Zuckerberg's casual dressing was an issue of concern for one analyst prior to Facebook's IPO.
Remember before the Facebook initial public stock offering when Michael Pachter, managing director and analyst for Wedbush Securities, was worried Zuckerberg is too immature to be chief executive and his hoodie was a reason for concern? Well it appears he's eating a little bit of crow right now, though he won't outright say it.
Pachter previously said Zuckerberg would be "well-suited to be the chief product officer, the chief user-experience officer, to manage the design of the user interface, [and] to decide every feature that goes in," but specifically omitted the role of chief executive. Among his concerns about Zuckerberg's leadership was the fact that he was willing to wear a hoodie to meetings with Wall Street investors.
Speaking to USA Today regarding Zuckerberg being named Glassdoor's top CEO, Pachter partially noted his year-old criticism of the Facebook leader was wrong.
"This guy is absolutely shocking me in how mature he's behaving," he said. "I think it's impressive that Zuckerberg, who never had a job before and has had no formal training, is so articulate."
Pachter didn't elaborate on why he was shocked, although his comments seem to overlook the fact that Zuckerberg has been leading Facebook as chief executive since he launched the social network in 2004, giving him years of experience at the helm. Through that time, Zuckerberg has continued to be himself – something Pachter previously chastised him for – even ringing the opening bell in his hoodie the day Facebook was listed on NASDAQ.
Even when given a chance to backtrack on his comments shortly after he gave them last year, however, Pachter made no attempt to recant them. Speaking to Bloomberg, he continued to maintain the attire was a mark of immaturity.
"I can't believe Mark Zuckerberg wakes up every morning and thinks, 'Cant wait to put that hoodie on.' My view is that he's wearing that hoodie because that's who he is and that's who he's expected to be," Pachter said. "So, in fact, I think the hoodie has become his uniform for the people who think he should wear a hoodie. He's got somebody's interest in mind, and it's not Wall Street."
Source: USA Today | Image via Facebook
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