Cleo Capital managing director Sarah Kunst told Fox Business Wednesday that companies need to move away from the “cult of the founder” in the wake of the FTX meltdown.
“We’ve lived in the era of the cult of the founder, where what the founder says goes, the founder is right,” she told “Making Money” host Charles Payne. “I think this a moment where venture capital has to decouple that and say, ‘Just because you’re a smooth talker and you wear a weird outfit, maybe you’re not the smartest guy in the room.'”
Kunst claimed that Steve Jobs is the embodiment of this idea, as many of his devotees apparently followed his orders despite him “saying many things that would … turn you off in a meeting.”
Threadneedle Ventures founder Ann Berry built on Kunst’s assessment, saying, “We don’t want any more Elizabeth Holmes situations.”
Fox Business Contributor: “We’ve lived in this era of the cult of the founder…Just because you’re a smooth talker and you wear a weird outfit, maybe you’re not the smartest guy in the room.” pic.twitter.com/nDkXz4wdgv
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 16, 2022
Kunst’s statements were in reference to the recent collapse of FXT, a crypto exchange that was co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. Following a liquidation crisis, Bankman-Fried’s net worth reportedly plummeted from $16 billion $0 within a day.
Both FXT and the Bankman-Fried-founded trading house Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy Friday. Bankman-Fried is reportedly under investigation after he allegedly took $10 billion of clients’ money from FTX, in which he has a 70% stake, and invested it into Alameda Research.
Payne previously criticized Bankman-Fried for donating millions of dollars to Democratic senators including Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Tina Smith of Minnesota and Bob Menendez of New Jersey.