About a year ago I was in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights, gazing down at the Golden Gate Bridge from one of Larry Ellison’s many spectacular homes. The Oracle chief executive wasn’t there – he had lent the house out for a reception. In any case, he would be the last person to apologise for enjoying the fruits of his success. But the view from technology executives’ balconies is getting stormier. After banks and bankers, could they be next to feel the sting of a populist backlash?
大約一年前我在美國舊金山太平洋高地(Pacific Heights)時,曾在甲骨文公司(Oracle)首席執行官拉里?埃里森(Larry Ellison)的眾多豪宅之一眺望金門大橋(Golden Gate Bridge)。當時埃里森不在那里——他把這座豪宅借給別人去舉辦一個招待會。不管怎樣,埃里森都絕無理由為享受自己的成功果實而道歉。但如今,如果你從科技業高管的陽臺向外望去,看到的卻是一場越來越猛烈的暴風雨。繼銀行和銀行家之后,科技業高管是否會成為民粹主義浪潮的下一批沖擊對象?