Is it disinterest or disrespect?
Mark Zuckerberg wore a hoodie to an investor’s meeting, and people were shocked.
Two seconds on Google would have prepared the investors for the Zuckerberg hoodie.
This is the man who wore pajamas to a meeting, and it was depicted in a Hollywood film. This is the man who wears jeans to meet the president. But Wall Street has higher expectations, and Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, was quoted as saying, “He’s actually showing investors he doesn’t care that much; he’s going to be him. I think that’s a mark of immaturity.”
And now opinions are flying around the internet as to whether or not the signature Zuckerberg hoodie is disrespectful to the straight-laced bankers of Wall Street, or if it’s symbolic of Zuckerberg’s refusal to bow to whatever Wall Street expects, or if it was even a conscious choice.
Facebook launched the pre-IPO roadshow this week, meeting with investors in New York, Boston and other cities to pitch the company’s stock to potential investors.
The Zuckerberg hoodie may not have been what the investors were expecting to see, and certainly not what they’re used to, but will this signature look really hurt Facebook’s ability to gain funding from investors?
Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group said that the Zuckerberg hoodie has been called disrespectful by some Wall Street types.
“It could be taken as studied indifference, arrogance, or that he simply didn’t think about what he was putting on. He was there to sell Facebook as a company and the first rule of sales is that you don’t give your prospective customers any reason to be uncomfortable before you start selling them,” Olds said.
The Wall Street Journal was quick to find a more boardroom-friendly version of the hoodie for Zuckerberg. Christina Binkley reported today about the Executive Pinstripe Hoodie.
Perhaps the new Zuckerberg hoodie, it can be purchased for a mere $148. That may sound like a lot for a hoodie, but at least it’s cheaper than a suit, and perhaps this option would mollify some of the Wall Street execs.
