When I was at our friend Sylvie’s podcast the other day, one question was asked.
Why are business leaders afraid to speak out when they see things that are obviously wrong?
I have had to confront this in my own experience. Being an out-of-the-closet conservative Republican in the Chicago business community became very hard at the end of my career there. It wasn’t in the 50s/60s/70s/80s/90s/00s, but in the latter half of the 10s it did. “I can’t invest in your fund because you are a Republican.” “We don’t want him on the cap table because he is a Republican.” “I don’t want him on our board of directors because he is a Republican.” Discrimination went from covert to overt.
Understand, these ideologically driven communists want you to help pave the way for them. They will stomp on you after you do.
For one example of an obvious issue, look at Sophie Cunningham and the subsidized from the NBA, or it would be broke, WNBA. She said she thinks that women ought to play women’s sports, and men ought to play men’s sports. How is this even controversial?
It is!
Name one business leader who stepped up to support Sophie.
It’s such a stupid issue; the WNBA won’t take up Clay Travis on his $10MM bet. I hope Nashville gets a franchise and staffs the entire thing from President to players to trainer with men who think they are women. They won’t lose a game.
There is a gigantic price to pay when a CEO speaks out.
The first price is in the media. The media is a left-wing mouthpiece bordering on a far-left-wing mouthpiece. The media will faithfully assassinate the character of the CEO who speaks out. They will take statements out of context.
The next price will be with the civic organizations in the community. They will pile on. Civic organizations in the US have been taken over by the left. I look at organizations like the Chicago Economic Club, and they are shells of their former selves. I single out the CEC, but virtually every “civic organization” in Chicago has been taken over by the commies and woke.
Academics will pile on as well. They will get interviewed by the media and talk about how a CEO is going rogue and hurting shareholders. Look at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. It’s a place where loser Democrats go to “teach”. Harvard’s Kennedy School isn’t different. Academia never, or very rarely, has a true free market conservative in any position of authority.
True conservatives aren’t even allowed to speak in academia. They get shouted down and protested.
The chardonnay-swilling Karens will gossip about what the CEO said. Politicians will seize the statement and investigate.
The threat of investigation gets the corporate lawyers involved. They advise the CEO on internal policies. All of a sudden, the internal culture of the company might change. Who gets promoted? Who gets hired?
Will a statement affect hiring? Getting talent to come and work for the company is one of the most important things a CEO does. Having the hot spotlight of the media shining on what is seen by the left-wing as a bad policy is not something a CEO desires.
Some CEOs toe the left-wing line. They never paid a price before, but now they are. The internet is exposing them. Consumers are voting with their feet. Ask Cracker Barrel and Budweiser.
Most corporate CEO’s are very good leaders. You rarely get to the top of a public company without merit. But they understand the opportunity costs of speaking out are far higher than the costs of staying quiet.
It takes incredible courage for someone like that to call things out. However, I think they should start doing it when it is obvious. Supporting Sophie Cunningham is obvious.
Ken Griffin called out JB Pritzker and Chicago politicians. They shat on him. He left and went to Miami. Citadel is easily uprooted and moved compared to a company like McDonald’s. No corporate is moving from a red state to a blue state.
Coinbase’s Bryan Armstrong said the company would be apolitical. 60 employees left. Coinbase is better for it. Coinbase sent a message to the community, and the community is responding. They are getting the kinds of employees they want.
Some CEOs move quietly, though. My friend Jeff Minch wrote about how here. Expect more and more businesses to leave blue states in the coming years. For many businesses, they have a high fixed cost that they can’t abandon, or it is financially adverse for them to take a write-down on it tied up in the blue state.
People networks are incredibly hard to move. But you can start one in a new place.
There is a reason my online name isn't my real name. Democrats are vicious, and Chicago Democrats are the champions in viciousness. At the local Chicago government level, they also have ridiculous levels of power over businesses. Even if they are blatantly wrong, the process is the punishment, and they will use the system to break you. They know how much lawyers cost, and they know how to revoke your licensing and deny anything else you might need to conduct a legitimate, legal business.
I concur with this article wholeheartedly. The Democrats are the bad people, and my "lived experience" proves it as one anecdote of many.
Just remember CEO's: The Bolsheviks were a very small number compared to their population and the same is true today. You have the support of the serious majority and don't forget it.