Opinion | Don't kick the bosses out because they're too old

Another day, another survey and another declaration of well-intentioned business advice from people who have never actually run a business.

This time, we have the worthy US-based Council of Institutional Investors telling us how appalled they are because the boards of listed companies are dominated by older people and are too “clubby” and insufficiently diverse.

These worthy edict-issuers are misguided enough to believe that just because companies are listed they are somehow democratic.

They really think that the old guys (yes, it is mainly men) who formed the companies are somehow going to let go and say: hey, we founded these corporations, built them up and have intimate knowledge of how they work, and we now think the best thing to do is to retire meekly into the background.

In Hong Kong this concept is even more absurd, because when the leaders of public companies talk about succession, the talent pool they draw on is largely confined to their sons. It is extremely hard to argue that these sons have even half the business nous of their fathers.

Moreover, what exactly would be the point of retiring, say Warren Buffett from the board of Berkshire Hathaway? Does anyone think that Li Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong empire would run better without the old man in charge?