Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley makes a fine presentation at the Web 2.0 conference on technology and industry change. The part that caught my attention was her last three slides. She says “I am required to go to a disclosure statement as you know … and umm ….” followed by her showing the following slides:
… and the audience laughs. My question is, what did this slide accomplish?
The disclosure meets a legal requirement and that’s it. I’m willing to bet that nobody ever reads this disclosure. I’m also willing to bet that it didn’t change anyone’s mind about investing or that it changed anyone’s behaviour. It’s useless, unless in the very small – and I mean very small – chance that someone sued Morgan Stanley. They would pull it out in court and state, “see, we made the disclosure … the plaintiff should have read it.” That’s what gives lawyers warm fuzzies and why they require someone like Mary Meeker to abruptly interrupt a great presentation with silliness. At least lawyers can provide some comic relief.