LARRY PAGE AND SERGEY BRIN DID IT. WHY COULDN’T JEFF ZUCKER?

Everyone knows that Marissa Mayer got her start at Google while having an affair with cofounder Larry Page. The other cofounder, Sergey Brin, started later on the underling dating path, having an affair with his PR manager which led to his divorce.

And talk about affairs: Eric Schmidt, longtime CEO of Google has had affairs with women around the globe while being married (probably for tax reasons) to his wife. It doesn’t seem to harm his reputation as a tech pundit.

I don’t think it’s wrong that CNN CEO Zucker was forced to resign for lying about his affair with his communications VP. That was part of his company’s policy, and like Boris Johnson, who lied about all those parties during lockdown and the night before a royal’s funeral, those who break the very rules they helped make need to go.

I’m just not sure if Zucker would have been forced to resign if he admitted to having the affair with his VP.

As a woman in tech, especially as a PR woman in tech (and why are so many women in PR, because it’s a nurturing role?), I can see how one can become attached to a client after understanding and then communicating their ideas. That makes for a powerful, intimate connection.

I suppose that having sex with a client or boss makes for an even deeper connection (literally and figuratively), but does it — should it — be the impetus for the resignation of the person in power? Or for the underling?

What about companies started by couples, where they both share the power? They’re having sex together, sometimes even have children together, and still run a company together.