The writer Neil Gaiman recently said Jeff Bezos has the most distinctive laugh in the world. Prompted by Gaiman’s opinion, our analysts spent some time combing the internet for the laughs of other tech industry leaders who might aspire to a Bezos-level of distinctiveness.
They were delighted to find that other well-known CEOs also had distinctive laughs, and decided it should be put up for a vote. Bezos might be the top seed, as his laugh is almost unbelievably insane-sounding. It’s hard to even place whether it is a malignant cackle or a mad scientist-type outburst, or just simply bizarro. Whatever it is, it is off the charts. But the other contenders have at least a passably reasonable chance at beating the Bezos gut buster.
What do you think? Watch the videos and vote at the bottom of this post. And if you know of any other distinctive tech laughs we may have missed, let us know in the comments or write info@cbinsights.com with the subject line “best laugh”.
1. Mark Zuckerberg
In this video, Zuck does a very weird half-laugh half-grunt nerd chortle thing that shows how far he’s come in terms of developing some executive polish. Back then (this video appears to be pretty old), he was clearly still developing his presentation skills and growing out of that awkward adolescent phase, literally. Not only that, but he seems to be laughing at his audience’s expense? In any case, this is vintage early Zuck, and the chortle has a subtlety the other laughs don’t. Notice how listening to it on this YouTube loop increases its interest with every listen. There are layers of meaning there.
2. Marissa Mayer
The YouTube video describes it as Mayer’s “terrible” laugh. It is actually pretty great. It’s a manic giggle that sounds quite insane but remains in tune, like a well-maintained instrument. There must be specialized vocal muscles that not all humans have that enable her to reach these contralto peaks and valleys. There is also a somewhat binary quality to her laugh, as if it might be part machine-generated.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=OinvdoyBsEc
3. Elon Musk
Surprisingly, maybe, for the tech titan that our 250K newsletter readers voted the most admired CEO in tech, Musk’s laugh is the most evil. It is a self-satisfied chuckle that seems to transmit contempt, self-satisfaction, and pity at the same time. Like the bemused half-accidental exclamation of a grumpy god.
4. Jeff Bezos
This is the grandest laugh of the all. Bezos’s unbridled guffaw is majestic. It’s not just distinctive as Neil Gaiman has said. Bezos has even admitted that his siblings used to refuse to go see movies with him, because his laugh was too embarrassing. One also gets the feeling that in terms of sonic impact, it’s also the strongest, and would manifest on a nearby eardrum like an audio fist crammed against it. Somehow, the shininess of the Bezos scalp is also tied in with this laugh and its blinding suchness (or Tathātā for all of you in Silicon Valley who prefer the Sanskrit term). He also makes crazy eyes while he does it. Does he look like a mad otter or a Chucky’s crazy uncle? The soundtrack of the Bezos laugh should be launched on one of his spaceships, and buried in an explosion-proof container on an asteroid, to forever twirl in space as the ineffable and scintillating expression of the Prime man.
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