Deny, deny, deny, issue a non-apology, do nothing to fix the issue, repeat
When things go wrong—and they will—that’s just the price of progress. But that doesn’t mean that you have to actually take responsibility for it. The modern tech CEO has their firm on a war footing against the press, ready to deny any and all unflattering coverage as false, exaggerated, or just mischaracterizing what’s actually going on. When the heat gets too much, bring in the crisis PR firms and memorize the phrase: “We know we have work to do.” Then (and this is the really important part) don’t do that work.
The ex-president may thus need to shift his rhetorical and management style to become completely hostile to any and all criticism.
