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☆ Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-03 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | Sarah Kessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Wall Street Democrats have spent the last eight years complaining about their relationship with Washington. But now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, they see a chance to regain influence. “Waging war is not.” (He later clarified that he would support Harris regardless of whether she replaced Khan.) Few on Wall Street would disagree with that stance — Khan has moved to block deals with seemingly little concern over losing in court. But behind the scenes, many are irked by this kind of public lobbying, arguing that it exposes a misunderstanding of the way the Washington game is played, and that it could backfire.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Biden, Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Bill Ackman, Harris, Lina Khan, ” Barry Diller, Reid Hoffman, ” Hoffman, “, Khan, — Khan Organizations: Democrats, Democratic Party, Trump, Federal Trade Commission, IAC, CNBC, LinkedIn, CNN Locations: Washington

☆ Opinion | Is the Populism of the Trump G.O.P. Real or Fake?
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Julius Krein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Before last week’s Republican convention, Donald Trump seemed to be moving away from the populism that characterized his 2016 campaign. “He’s defending big business, cozying up to billionaires, and wooing C.E.O.s.”When Mr. Trump named Senator JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate, though, pundits quickly concluded that he was doubling down on populism. In his convention speech, Mr. Vance denounced NAFTA and China trade deals and promised to prioritize American workers over multinational corporations. On the other hand, in a long interview with Bloomberg (conducted in late June) that came out after the announcement of Mr. Vance’s selection, Mr. Trump hardly sounded like a firebrand economic populist. He floated the idea of reducing corporate tax rates to 15 percent and said he’d consider the JPMorgan Chase C.E.O., Jamie Dimon, as a potential Treasury secretary.

Persons: Donald Trump, isn’t, Karma, “, C.E.O.s, Trump, JD Vance, Ohio, Vance, Reagan, Bush, Lina Khan, he’d, JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, Trump’s Organizations: Republican, Federal Trade Commission, China, Bloomberg, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase C.E.O Locations: The

Talking pointsAll eyes will be on CNN at 9 p.m. Eastern, when President Biden and Donald Trump face off in their first debate since 2020. Among the keenest watchers will be executives and investors looking for signs about how the candidates might handle the economy and business in a second term. There will be plenty to scrutinize in the 90-minute, audience-free debate, including what the candidates say and how they say it. What will Biden and Trump say about some of the key issues? In Thursday night’s debate, “markets probably care more about presentation than policy pledges,” Paul Donovan, an economist at UBS, wrote in a client note.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, ” David Bahnsen, DealBook, ” Paul Donovan, Elon Musk, There’s, J.D, Vance of, Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio Organizations: CNN, Bahnsen, UBS, Biden, Trump, Times, Gov Locations: Atlanta, Vance of Ohio, North Dakota, Marco Rubio of Florida

Quiet in the C-suiteThree years ago, corporate leaders openly spoke out against Donald Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. But as the former president leads in many polls this time around, most in the C-suite are staying quiet. In 2021, C.E.O.s including Mary Barra of General Motors and Doug McMillon of Walmart publicly urged a peaceful transition of power. Only a handful of executives have publicly supported Trump, who was willing to go after perceived enemies in corporate American when he was in office. It’s highly unlikely that tally will reach 902, the number of times the topics were mentioned in 2020 during the same period.

Persons: Donald Trump, Mary Barra, Doug McMillon, Trump, Biden, It’s Organizations: Capitol, General Motors, Walmart

When the White House chief of staff, Jeffrey Zients, met with dozens of top executives in Washington this month, he encountered a familiar list of corporate complaints about President Biden. The executives at the Business Roundtable, a group representing some of the country’s biggest corporations, objected to Mr. Biden’s proposals to raise taxes. While the meeting was not antagonistic, it was indicative of three and a half years of executive grousing about Mr. Biden. Business leaders have criticized his remarks on “corporate greed” and his appearance on a union picket line. A number of prominent figures in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street — including the venture capitalists David Sacks and Marc Andreessen, and the hedge fund magnate Kenneth Griffin — have grown increasingly vocal in their criticism of Mr. Biden, their praise of former President Donald J. Trump, or both.

Persons: Jeffrey Zients, Biden, ”, —, Lina Khan, David Sacks, Marc Andreessen, Kenneth Griffin —, Mr, Donald J, Trump Organizations: White House, Business, Biden, Federal Trade Commission Locations: Washington, Silicon Valley

Former President Donald J. Trump told a group of America’s most powerful chief executives on Thursday that he intended to cut the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 21 percent, according to three people who attended the meeting and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the ground rules stipulated the meeting was off the record. Mr. Trump made the remarks from a comfortable gray armchair during a conversation with his former economic adviser Larry Kudlow in front of the audience of dozens of leading chief executives, including Tim Cook of Apple, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Doug McMillon of Walmart and Charles W. Scharf of Wells Fargo. They had gathered on Thursday morning in Washington for a meeting of the Business Roundtable, an influential corporate group, and there was said to be palpable relief in the room when Mr. Trump, who has been trying to woo business leaders as potential donors, told the executives much of what they had hoped to hear. Many leaders in corporate America have been nervous that in a second term, Mr. Trump might not be as friendly toward them as he was in his first. Many ended up abandoning him and publicly criticizing him, especially after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Larry Kudlow, Tim Cook, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Doug McMillon, Charles W . Scharf, Wells Organizations: Apple, JPMorgan, Walmart, Business, Capitol Locations: Wells Fargo, Washington, America

Apple tries to close the A.I. leaders, like Nvidia and Microsoft, have soared since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in November 2022. Big Tech C.E.O.s have fallen over themselves to show they are in the race. But Apple hasn’t yet introduced a new A.I. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over use of copyrighted articles related to A.I.

Persons: Apple, Tim Cook, Apple’s, OpenAI Organizations: Apple’s Worldwide, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Big Tech, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Locations: China

☆ A New Measure Shows C.E.O. Pay at Even More Astronomical Levels
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Jeff Sommer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The annual tallies of chief executive pay for 2023 have arrived and they are fascinating and irritating, in equal measure. But this year, there’s a new wrinkle: Companies must disclose how much C.E.O. By that measure, too, chief executives are amassing extraordinary wealth. In 2023, using traditional measures of executive pay, four chief executives of publicly traded companies were each rewarded with more than $150 million:Plus, new rules stemming from the Dodd-Frank law of 2010 have gone into effect. They focus on how the market changes executive pay each year, yielding a second highest-paid C.E.O.

Persons: there’s, Dodd, Frank

Tim Cook has delivered at least seven commencement addresses since becoming the chief executive of Apple. The superstar Taylor Swift, whose concerts have been credited with lifting local economies, addressed New York University’s graduation ceremony in 2022. Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Dimon — they’ve all given graduation speeches more than once. The appeal of being a commencement speaker, however, seems to be waning. Just three Fortune 50 chief executives appear to be commencement speakers this year, as colleges have faced campus protests over the war in Gaza, student arrests and wealthy alumni threatening to break ties with their alma maters over antisemitism.

Persons: Tim Cook, Taylor Swift, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Dimon —, They’re, ”, David Murray Organizations: Apple, Fortune, Professional Speechwriters Association Locations: New, Gaza

☆ The C.E.O.s Who Just Won’t Quit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Emma Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Even so, there are few scenarios in which a middle-aged corporate executive can be treated like an aging rock star by thousands of fawning employees. Around the time Ballmer announced his plans to go, the company’s stock price was lower than when he started the job. The media was bemoaning Microsoft’s “lost decade.” While its tech rivals had seized on new markets, Microsoft had changed fairly little. Apple dominated smartphones, Google prevailed in search and giants like Facebook — which didn’t even exist when Ballmer took the reins — stood atop a whole new sector of the economy. With the arrival of Ballmer’s successor, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s stock price soared.

Persons: Ballmer, ”, I’ve, Bill Gates, Microsoft’s “, —, Satya Nadella Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook

(Both men already hold sizable amounts of Alibaba stock.) Alibaba itself bought back $9.5 billion worth of stock last year, reducing its share count by over 3 percent. The stock purchases will probably bring attention back to Ma, a former English teacher who helped start Alibaba as an e-commerce platform. Ma, who hasn’t held a management role at Alibaba or Ant in years but remains a lifetime partner in the Alibaba Partnership, now largely focuses on Bill Gates-style philanthropy. And she’s expected to take swipes at Trump’s economic record as president.

Persons: Tsai, Ma, Alibaba, Ant, hasn’t, Bill Gates, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, Eric Rosengren, Robert Kaplan, Kaplan, Rosengren, Archer, Daniels, Vikram Luthar, Scott Stuber, Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion, Stuber, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s, Bela Bajaria, Biden’s, Janet Yellen, Lael Brainard, they’re, Biden, ” Ray Fair Organizations: Pool Management, Alibaba, Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, Nets, Boston Fed, Dallas Fed, Republican, Biden, Yale, Times Locations: U.S, Hong Kong, China, Ma, Beijing, ’, Paris, New Hampshire, Dixville

Zelensky and Trump loom over DavosTwo people are having an outsize impact at the World Economic Forum, and one of them isn’t even there. One is Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, who put on a full-court press of business and global leaders at the forum in Davos, Switzerland. Zelensky isn’t the only leader at Davos worried about Trump. The Ukrainian leader has sought to shore up global business support. And the annual wine tasting hosted by Anthony Scaramucci, the financier and former Trump official, well, ran out of wine.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Andrew, Trump, Putin, “, ” Zelensky, Republican Party ”, DealBook, thumped, JPMorgan Chase, Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone, Ray Dalio, David Rubenstein, Carlyle, Michael Dell, John Kerry, Biden’s, Anthony Scaramucci, Christine Lagarde, Christopher Waller, Nelson Peltz’s, James Gorman, Morgan Stanley, Mary Barra, General Motors —, Bob Iger, Disney’s, Murray Auchincloss, Bernard Looney, Auchincloss, Yi Fuxian Organizations: Trump, Economic, Ukraine, Republican Party, Republican, JPMorgan, Congress Center, Dell, European Central Bank, Fed, Disney, General, BP, University of Wisconsin – Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Europe, Ukraine, American, Iowa, Bridgewater, China, Beijing, Russia, Britain, U.S, Asia, University of Wisconsin – Madison

The meetings behind the meetingThousands of global leaders have once again descended on snowy Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. The theme of this year’s event: “rebuilding trust.”But there are the public meetings, and then there are the real ones behind closed doors that the attendees are talking about most. These include discussions touching on U.S.-China tensions, the war in Gaza, artificial intelligence and the future of Ukraine. If the answer is zero, you’ve won. Top U.S. officials are set to appear on the main stage, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser.

Persons: you’ve, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan Organizations: Center, U.S Locations: Davos, Switzerland, China, Gaza, Ukraine

Social media’s antisemitism problemThe rise in antisemitism since the outbreak of war in the Middle East has ignited a clash between Wall Street donors and universities, and divided some workplaces. Now, the pressure is building on social media platforms, particularly Elon Musk’s X and TikTok, with advertisers, celebrities and influencers pulling spending and confronting executives about the proliferation of hate speech. He posted to X his support for white nationalist conspiracy theories that Jewish communities were spreading hatred. Yaccarino was brought in to win back advertisers after Musk bought Twitter last year and culled many content moderators. More than a dozen Jewish celebrities and creators, including the actors Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing and Amy Schumer, confronted TikTok executives this week.

Persons: Elon Musk’s, Adolf Hitler, Musk, X’s, Linda Yaccarino, Yaccarino, “ Linda, ” Martin Sorrell, DealBook, TikTok, Sacha Baron Cohen, Debra Messing, Amy Schumer, “ Hitler, Anne Frank ”, Cohen, ”, Osama bin, bin Laden, —, Alex Haurek, George Santos, Biden, Xi Jinping, Doug McMillon, Walmart’s, “, ” Brian Cornell, ’ Organizations: IBM, Media, America, Nazi Party, Apple, Oracle, Defamation League, Twitter, S4 Capital, House, Big, General Motors, Hyundai, Republican, Justice Department, Business, APEC, West Texas Intermediate, Consumers, Depot, Walmart Locations: TikTok, New York, Hong Kong, China, San Francisco, Beijing, Washington, U.S

☆ Opinion | A Tech Billionaire’s Case for Why Tech Billionaires Should Rule the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Elizabeth Spiers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It takes a certain kind of person to write grandiose manifestoes for public consumption, unafflicted by self-doubt or denuded of self-interest. In this vision, wealthy technologists are not just leaders of their business but keepers of the social order, unencumbered by what Mr. Andreessen labels “enemies”: social responsibility, trust and safety, tech ethics, to name a few. But the real problem with Mr. Andreessen’s manifesto may be not that it’s too outlandish, but that it’s too on-the-nose. In the case of ordinary individuals, however, debt is regarded as not just a financial failure but a moral one. (If you are successful and have paid your student loans off, taking them out in the first place was a good decision.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, ” Organizations: Netscape

☆ Opinion | What Republicans Say (and Don’t Say) About the Auto Workers’ Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But beyond the presidential contenders, there were also the ostensibly populist Republicans who have placed workers at the center of their case. They haven’t even blamed management for the strike, despite the fact that the U.A.W. And they haven’t voiced support for the largest, most ambitious organizing goal of the U.A.W. As (my former editor and colleague) Harold Meyerson notes in a piece for The American Prospect:The long-term future of the U.A.W. foreign-owned auto factories that are spread across the South, also falls well short of the levels that U.A.W.

Persons: “, Joe Biden’s, Josh Hawley, J.D, Vance, Ohio, Marco Rubio, Harold Meyerson, ”, Elon Organizations: Republicans, GM, Ford Locations: China, Missouri, Florida, Stellantis

☆ What C.E.O.s Mean When They Talk About ‘Moats’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Talmon Joseph Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

What C.E.O.s Mean When They Talk About ‘Moats’Nvidia has been hailed by Wall Street for the “moat” it built around its chips to power A.I. Starbucks is trying to figure out how to retain its moat in China. So what’s all this talk of moats, and why do executives use the word so much? Here’s what to know →

Organizations: Nvidia, Wall Street Locations: China

☆ Opinion | A Hidden Reason Cities Fall Apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

And this has been a self-perpetuating process in which the fortunate metros have gained the most while many places are left behind. This used to happen all the time in Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, the Twin Cities, etc.”These locally based firms. Atkinson continued, “played an important role of helping the various municipalities in a region work more closely together. The only way to grow their banks or electric utilities was to grow the community where they were based. Their job is to sit on local boards and dabble in community relations, but they don’t really call the shots anymore.

Persons: Mark Muro, Muro, Robert D, Atkinson, Louis, “, ” Aaron M, Renn, Frank A Organizations: Brookings, ’, metros, Information Technology, Innovation Foundation, Twin, American, “ Civic, Baltimore News American, Maryland Locations: Detroit , Cleveland, St, Twin Cities, Banks, Dallas

☆ China Is Full of Risks. So Why Can’t Corporate America Leave?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Alexandra Stevenson | More About Alexandra Stevenson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, America’s corporate chieftains saw China as a money spinner. Western companies doing business in China are facing pressures that were unimaginable several years ago. The country’s economy is floundering and its relationship with the United States is strained. Many Western companies still see their China operations as a long-term bet, but the payoff is tempered with hazards. “There is a recognition among C.E.O.s that they need to mitigate some risks,” said Myron Brilliant, a senior counselor at Dentons Global Advisors-ASG.

Persons: ”, Myron Brilliant Organizations: Global Locations: China, United States

C.E.O.s urge Washington to help with asylum seekersAs New York City’s migrant crisis continues to escalate, with more than 100,000 arrivals from the southern U.S. border straining shelters, some of the city’s top business leaders are intervening in a fight over who’s responsible. But recent communications by the Biden administration suggest that such calls won’t be heeded. The letter underscores the increasing urgency of the crisis, which has pitted Mayor Eric Adams against Gov. Adams has said the crisis could cost the city $12 billion over three years, while Hochul has spent $1.5 billion and deployed nearly 2,000 National Guard members so far. The migrant crisis is a business issue.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Jane Fraser, Citigroup —, Biden, won’t, Eric Adams, Kathy Hochul —, Adams, Hochul Organizations: JPMorgan, Citigroup, Gov, Biden, National Guard Locations: Washington, York, U.S, New

☆ In Retail’s Top Echelons, Female C.E.O.s Lose a Bit of Ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Jordyn Holman | More About Jordyn Holman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“It reminds me of the Barbie movie,” said Kimberly Lee Minor, who is the chief executive of the consulting firm Bumbershoot and has been working in the retail industry for 30 years. Of the 86 retail companies in the Fortune 1000, 13 had a woman as chief executive as of July 2023, down slightly from the year before, according to the executive recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles. Retail executives have long been quick to note that purchases are largely driven by women, who make most of the spending decisions for their households. Seventy-two percent of cashiers are women, and about half of retail salespersons are women, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That tends to perpetuate previous hiring decisions and lead to companies seeking those with experience leading a turnaround.

Persons: ”, Kimberly Lee Minor, Bumbershoot, “, haven’t, Kathy Gersch Organizations: Fortune, Retail, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kotter Locations: U.S

☆ Opinion | Israel’s Self-Inflicted Wound
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A demagogue sacrifices his nation for himself. The crisis in Israel is sometimes described as a battle of left against right, secular against religious, Ashkenazi against Mizrahi Jews. Israel’s demographic challenges are well known, but there’s a challenge within the challenge: If the people who made Israel the “Startup Nation” are heading for the exits, the long-term basis of Israel’s power will erode. Prayers won’t save Israel if it lacks a world-class economy to sustain a regionally dominant military. Israelis have a penchant for hyperbole, and this week has brought a lot of lamentations about the “end of Israeli democracy.” That’s an unwarranted counsel of despair as well as an overstatement: Israeli democracy has survived worse.

Persons: Israel wouldn’t, Netanyahu weren’t, Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett, There’s, ” Organizations: “ Locations: Israel

☆ Threads, Twitter, and The Future of Social Media - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Sriram Krishnan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

As interest rates started to rise, social media companies discovered they weren’t immune to macroeconomic forces. While many were blown away by their possibilities, they forced social media websites to re-evaluate how their data is used externally. assistant for the names of San Francisco’s best restaurants, it could well use that Reddit discussion to generate its answer. Whether or not you agree with Mr. Musk’s moves after he bought Twitter, they have sparked a chain reaction. While it’s early days to see how this plays out, it is clear the social media landscape has shifted quickly and profoundly.

Persons: C.E.O.s, you’re, hoover, Reddit, Elon Musk’s, Musk’s, Reddit’s C.E.O, Instagram Organizations: Google, San, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Francisco, Reddit, San Francisco, Silicon Valley

Trouble in TinseltownIt’s happening: America’s $134 billion movie and TV industry has ground to a halt after the Hollywood actors’ union voted to strike, joining screenwriters and shutting down virtually all productions. The move reflects the growing aggressiveness of the American labor movement, which has been battling against Starbucks, Amazon, UPS and others. The actors’ union blasted studios for refusing to bend on key issues, including higher payouts from streaming titles and clear limits on the use of artificial intelligence. Shame on them!”The studios argue that the unions’ demands are unrealistic, given the challenges the entertainment industry faces, from streaming to fallout from the pandemic. “This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption,” Bob Iger, Disney’s C.E.O., said on CNBC yesterday.

Persons: ’, ” Fran Drescher, Bob Iger, Disney’s Organizations: Hollywood, Starbucks, SAG, CNBC Locations: Amazon, —

☆ Gen X Is in Charge. Don’t Make a Big Deal About It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Emma Goldberg | More About Emma Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s Gen X’s moment, that generation most known for being crowded out of sweeping cultural age analyses by millennials on one end and boomers on the other. Or as Patton Oswalt, a Gen X comedian, put it: “Gen X is trending, which probably means that, uh … eh, whatever. People are far more complicated than the year they were born — in Gen X’s case, some time between 1965 and 1980. Take Darby Equipment, a manufacturing company in Tulsa, where remote flexibility for years seemed like an alien concept. The former chief executive, Bob Darby, reigned the company, a family business, with a commitment to an in-person regimen.

Persons: —, millennials, Patton Oswalt, X’s, Darby, Bob Darby Locations: Tulsa

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