Good morning.
At the Fortune CEO Initiative dinner last night in San Francisco, one attendee brought extra security and spoke about how they now have someone protect their family at home. Earlier this week, a CEO told me that their child is having nightmares about them being killed.
The arrest of Luigi Mangione has done little to calm corporate leaders, who are struggling to understand the outpouring of support for the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. I’ve reached out to dozens of leaders to get their reaction and wanted to share some thoughts anonymously.
CEOs are used to being targets. “I don’t think you could be a CEO and not have threats against your life, if you’re going through bankruptcy or have to reduce labor,” noted one leader who’d been through both. What feels different to them this time is the lack of consequences for people issuing threats or cheering on a man’s murder on social media, not to mention the rhetoric coming from some politicians. “There are people in Congress who want to ‘stick it to corporate America.’ Well, corporate America is made up of hard-working Americans who do their best to reward the investors and many times those investors are pension funds.”
One CEO in the insurance sector said their challenge is keeping employees engaged: “How do you maintain a sense of purpose if you think your customers hate you?”
Noted another: “I have to wonder if the demonization of corporate America and the wealthy over the last four years planted a mind virus in the assassin’s mind.”
For that, some blame my own sector: the media. “Journalists look for heroes and villains; life is not that simple. Why is the killer getting 10 times as much press as the person who was killed?”
And some have taken this moment to reflect. “When I was growing up, CEOs didn’t make millions more than everyone else in the company. I think we have to reflect on why there’s so much anger and do something about it.”
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Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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