

The story I’ve heard is that he took a nosedive in effectiveness as CEO when his son died in 2022 (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadellas-son-dead-26-company-says-rcna18320). No idea how true that is, but 2022ish does seem to have been a turning point for Microsoft in terms of strategy and how well the company is run.









Actually in most of the US prisoners are explicitly required or just “encouraged” to work (“More than three quarters of incarcerated people surveyed (76%) report facing punishment—such as solitary confinement, denial of sentence reductions, or loss of family visitation—if they decline to work.”) And of course if they get compensated at all it’s typically literal pennies per hour. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/us-prison-labor-programs-violate-fundamental-human-rights-new-report-finds
But you’re right that the lack of alternative leisure time activities definitely encourages getting jacked and reading.