Maverick technologist Elon Musk riled many recently when he
criticized the practice of hiring too many MBAs by US firms and focusing on
meetings and financials instead of product development.

The second richest man on Earth said that an “MBA-ization of
America” was underway with too many MBAs on board.

“I think there might be too many M.B.A.s running companies,”
the Tesla Inc. chief executive said on Tuesday at the Wall
street Journal’s CEO Council annual summit.

“There’s the M.B.A.-ization of America, which I think is
maybe not that great. There should be more focus on the product or service
itself, less time on board meetings, less time on financials.”   

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The criticism didn’t go unnoticed, especially among the
faculty members teaching the course at business schools, who countered Musk’s
statement saying that not all MBAs were obsessed with PowerPoint presentations.

“I have nothing but the utmost respect for Elon, but he’s
wrong to focus the blame on M.B.A.s,” Robert Siegel, a lecturer in
management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business told WSJ.

 “I think he’s got a
strong element of truth of what leaders should be focused on, but he is
completely off base talking about M.B.A.s.”

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Former dean of Columbia school Glen Hubbard also disagreed
with the billionaire, who said MBAs ground graduates in the essential
know-how of running a business as well as the ability to execute a vision.

“He is a visionary, but many CEOs do well at vision and
execution with the benefit of an M.B.A., or with a strong team of M.B.A.s,”
Hubbard said.

Among the top 100 CEOs in the Fortune 500, roughly a third
holds a master’s in business administration, according to the U.S. News Best
Business School rankings, WSJ reported.

This was not the first time Musk had shot down MBAs with a
snide comment.

In 2013 also, Musk had claimed that he hires people “in
spite of an MBA” during an interview with the American Physical Society, a
nonprofit professional organization.