In the early 2000s, something quietly but profoundly changed in the heart of corporate America. For decades, the most successful companies had been led by engineer-CEOs, individuals who had built their empires through a deep understanding of the technology that underpinned their industries. These leaders were problem solvers, innovators, and often, visionaries who understood the intricate workings of the machines and systems they oversaw.

But then, something strange happened. The engineers began to disappear from the boardrooms, replaced by a new breed of leader—the MBA, the finance expert. These new CEOs weren’t tinkerers or inventors; they were strategists, market analysts, and efficiency experts. They spoke the language of quarterly earnings, shareholder value, and cost reduction. They didn’t build companies—they optimized them.

At first, the transition seemed logical, even inevitable. The world was changing rapidly, and companies needed leaders who could navigate the complexities of global finance. The tech booms and busts of the late ’90s had created a sense of uncertainty, and the thinking was that engineers were too focused on the product, too inward-looking to steer a company through the choppy waters of the new millennium.

But in their rush to embrace this new leadership, these companies failed to see what they were sacrificing. The new CEOs, with their sharp suits and slick presentations, began to make decisions that looked good on paper but missed the essential DNA of the companies they were now leading. R&D budgets were slashed, long-term projects abandoned in favor of short-term gains. The careful balance between innovation and profitability was tipped decisively towards the latter.

And so, company after company stumbled. Strategies that had seemed brilliant in the boardroom floundered in the real world. The relentless focus on cost-cutting led to a hollowing out of the very expertise that had made these companies great in the first place. The products became commoditized, the brand loyalty eroded, and slowly, the companies began to lose their edge.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight, the consequences of those decisions are becoming painfully clear. The once-dominant companies are shadows of their former selves, unable to compete in the very markets they once defined. The finance-driven decisions that promised to safeguard the future instead sealed their fate. The future, it turns out, wasn’t in the balance sheets but in the ideas and innovations that had been left behind.

In a cruel twist of irony, the very qualities that the MBA-CEOs were brought in to manage—the volatility, the uncertainty—were exacerbated by their actions, leading to the decline of the giants they were meant to save.