Former Nike CEO John Donahoe’s downfall is a brutal lesson in corporate leadership

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1. When Nike said on Thursday that John Donahoe was stepping down as chief executive officer, his exit from a rocky tenure offered a brutal reminder to corporate boards: Focus on what a company’s core business is when looking for a new CEO.

   With Donahoe, they chose a CEO who lacked any deep knowledge about sneakers and sneaker culture, and no retail experience in stores, leading to the current disaster. He underestimated the importance of partners like Macy’s, DSW and Foot Locker in selling its running shoes. And as a former management consultant, cost-cutting proved to be his go-to tactic, but one that only worsened Nike’s problems.

   Former Nike marketing executive Massimo Giunco posted a long indictment of Donahoe on LinkedIn. “The CEO of Nike doesn’t come from the industry,” he wrote. “At the end, he is a poorly advised, ‘data-driven guy.’ ”

2. That and his tech is behind most other brands.

3. MBAs, management consultants, and private equity leaders often rely on one main strategy: reduce headcount and raise prices. Simple as that.

4. Him and the ex Starbucks CEO should be pals

5. Maybe they can fix their shit sports jerseys, or jsut get outa that biz all together.

6. What a fucking shock that these Silicon Valley CEOs think they can do anything and then only find out they can’t after losing billions in value and ruining thousands of people’s careers.

7. Nothing will change because by the time the CEO of any company is fired or resigns, their bank account is already loaded. Why should any CEO care beyond collecting that paycheck? Succeed or fail, you’re set for life.

8. I feel very negative towards the guy from his stint at eBay. Now he was bad at Nike too? I wonder what is the next big company he will lead and be bad at next. Because I can’t imagine that folks would actually learn and not have him be CEO somewhere and keep giving him a lot of money. That would just make sense, so, it seems unrealistic.

9. Re-rocking the same bullshit shoes

10. He still got a massive golden parachute right?