> it's revealing when the CEO of the org is not a technical person
Merck's CEO is a lawyer.
> they are kind of _forced_ to do research in one form or another
Modern pharma companies spend more on legal and marketing than they do on R&D [1]. Valeant and Michael Pearson are emblematic of that horrifying trend.
MBA types and McKinsey alums have very different priorities than most hackers/researchers/builders, and it is their priorities that are driving investment decisions these days. That really needs to change.