In Silicon Valley, Some CEOs Outshine Their Companies

By Nicole Zhu

“John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, had the room with his first F-bomb,” wrote CNET on Legere’s first appearance at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show. His speech was “a profanity-laden talk that seemed more fitting for a comedy club than a corporate press event,” even calling AT&T’s network in New York City “crap.” A far cry from the litany of straight-laced corporate men that came before him, Legere was a maverick who, in an instant, made waves throughout the industry.

Since that spectacular first public address, Legere has shaken up the once-stagnant mobile company in dramatic fashion, spearheading the “Un-carrier” marketing campaign that T-Mobile is now famous for, featuring contract-free payment models that are now an industry mainstay. Legere’s profanity-laden, magenta-clad, unapologetically brash persona has made him one of the most recognizable CEOs today.

Like Apple’s Steve Jobs, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Legere was symbolic of the company he ran, serving as the larger-than-life human ambassador for his corporation.

Companies with powerful, interesting leaders have always had an edge, but never more so than now. CEOs like Zuckerberg and Bezos have become urban legends—their companies so ingrained in modern society that their names have become part of pop culture vernacular.

In some cases, the visibility of the CEO can carry the entire company: former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, famous for her Steve Jobs-esque charisma and dress, was praised in countless magazine features, eventually assembling what was called the “most illustrious” corporate board in history. At its height in 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion with $400 million in venture capital. However, investigative journalists at The Wall Street Journal discovered the fraudulent truth—Holmes and other executives had misrepresented the capabilities of the core Theranos product, fraudulently portraying its technologies to investors, business partners, and even the company’s own employees.

 Legere has since announced his retirement from the company, handing down reins of the company to Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s current president and chief operating officer. But as the influence of the most prominent CEOs continues to swell, the question remains as to whether they are good for the very businesses they lead.