Cubs president Theo Epstein scoffs at being named Fortune's No. 1 World Leader: 'I can't even get my dog to stop peeing in the house'
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
After helping the Chicago Cubs break their 108-year championship drought, team president Theo Epstein was named Fortune's No. 1 World Leader.
Fortune praised Epstein for the team's turnaround calling him the "wunderkind executive" who wisely modeled the Cubs after the Boston Red Sox.
Epstein, however, is not buying it. Esptein had a fantastic reaction to the title, scoffing at it to ESPN's Buster Olney.
"Um, I can't even get my dog to stop peeing in the house. That is ridiculous. The whole thing is patently ridiculous. It's baseball--a pastime involving a lot of chance. If Zobrist's ball is three inches farther off the line, I'm on the hot seat for a failed five-year plan. And I'm not even the best leader in our organization; our players are."
Esptein rounded off the top five, finishing ahead of Alibaba's Jack Ma, Pope Francis, Melinda Gates, and Jeff Bezos.
Of course, Epstein has been central in the Cubs' turnaround. He's placed an emphasis on character and strategy, creating a culture that tops many franchises, to say nothing of the team's solid drafting and free-agency work.
Regardless of his success in dog training, Epstein has done a good job with, as Fortune puts it, baseball's most "lovable losers."
- I quit McKinsey after 1.5 years. I was making over $200k but my mental health was shattered.
- Some Tesla factory workers realized they were laid off when security scanned their badges and sent them back on shuttles, sources say
- I tutor the children of some of Dubai's richest people. One of them paid me $3,000 to do his homework.
- Why are so many elite coaches moving to Western countries?
- Global GDP to face a 19% decline by 2050 due to climate change, study projects
- 5 things to keep in mind before taking a personal loan
- Markets face heavy fluctuations; settle lower taking downtrend to 4th day
- Move over Bollywood, audio shows are starting to enter the coveted ‘100 Crores Club’