Silicon Valley is full of psychopathic CEOs who are 'charming and manipulative' but have no empathy, experts claim

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Silicon Valley is teeming with psychopaths, it has been claimed.

According to a panel of experts at SXSW festival this week, the tech hotspot harbours a high proportion of psychopathic CEOs, whose tendency to be charming and manipulative, all while lacking empathy, may help them climb to the top.

The presence of investors and carefully-crafted human resource departments in Silicon Valley may also play a role in their dominance, as these groups often enable their behaviour.

According to a panel of experts at SXSW festival this week, the tech hotspot harbours a high proportion of psychopathic CEOs, whose tendency to be charming and manipulative, all while lacking empathy, may help them climb to the top. A scene from American Psycho is pictured 

Psychopaths are known to lack remorse, and can be callous and manipulative while still coming across as charming to others.

And, in the last decade, researchers have found that ’successful psychopaths’ are becoming increasingly common.

At SXSW yesterday, experts explained that some of the traits associated with psychopathy may help these people obtain high-power positions, The Guardian reports.

‘They have certain characteristics like fearless dominance, boldness, and a lack of emotion,’ said forensic and clinical psychologist Michael Woodworth during the panel, The Guardian reports.

‘Many successful presidents have scored highly [on the psychopath scale].’

Psychopathic CEOs may choose to surround themselves with supporters by appointing such a person to an HR position, the experts explained.

And, investors also tend to protect malicious bosses, as the success of the investment relies on them.

It’s not surprising that Silicon Valley has such a high amount of psychopathy among its CEOs, according to the panel, as starting a company is, in itself, an ‘irrational act.’

‘You have to have a tremendous amount of ego [and] self-deception to embark on that journey,’ venture capitalist Bryan Stolle said, according to The Guardian.

‘You have to make sacrifices and give up on things, including sometimes a marriage, family, and friends.

Silicon Valley is teeming with psychopaths, experts say. The presence of investors and weak human resource departments in Silicon Valley may also play a role in their dominance. Kevin Spacey is pictured above, as Frank Underwood in House of Cards 

‘And you have to convince other people. So they are mostly very charismatic, charming, and make you suspend the disbelief that something can’t be done.’

While they may be charming, psychopaths will show their true nature when things stop going their way, according to the experts.

When this happens, their ‘mask of sanity falls off.’

Several recent studies have revealed the growing prevalence of psychopaths in top positions.

A study from researchers with Bond University in Australia and the University of San Diego, published in September, revealed roughly one-fifth of top corporate professionals have ‘extremely high’ levels of psychopathic traits.

This is about the same rate as seen among prisoners.

The researchers warned that these people may have a toxic effect on other employees and engage in unethical and illegal business practices. 

‘Typically psychopaths create a lot of chaos and generally tend to play people off against each other,’ said Nathan Brooks, a forensic psychologist at Bond University.  

And, while it may seem alarming, the experts say there are ways to communicate with these CEOs to avoid being manipulated.

Using text-based systems to communicate will remove some of the tactics they rely on, such as verbal charm and confidence, The Guardian reports.

Then, the experts say, ‘you can smoke them out in an online context.’