Hacker News Reader

Comment by lisper | Hacker News Reader

One thing this article completely neglects to mention: Larry has vocal chord paralysis and so has difficulty speaking.

https://www.wired.com/2013/05/larry-page-vocal-chords/

This could have something to do with why he's reluctant to do a lot of public speaking nowadays.

[UPDATE] I was wrong: the article does mention this, I just missed it. I would delete this comment but I can't since it has been replied to.

View on HN

It mentions that several times.

>In the 1990s he was diagnosed with vocal cord paralysis, a nerve condition that eventually has made it difficult for him to speak above a hoarse whisper. “Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully,” Page wrote in a Google+ post in 2013, the same year he stopped joining earnings calls.

While it's true (sibling comments) that this is indeed mentioned in the article, it's well into the body, about two-thirds down. This strikes me as extremely relevant information: Page acts "as if [he] had only so many words left to speak." (ftfa)

Why would he waste his breath, if it's actually limited? The mistake here wasn't in Page not showing up--it was in _nobody_ showing up.

That's not on Google - as the article states, Google offered multiple other officials, but that was declined, they wanted Page or nothing and so got nothing.

This is mentioned multiple times in the article.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com