Good morning.
One of the great roller coaster rides of the last 10 years has been watching U.S.-based CEOs wrestle with how to respond to controversial social issues. Over a decade ago, most of them would have hidden under their desks before commenting on something like police brutality or transgender access to public bathrooms. But that began to change around 2014, and the pandemic hypercharged the change. The trend peaked with the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, when almost every big-company CEO felt compelled to issue a public comment.
Today, the pendulum has swung back—or rather, been pushed back by politicians attacking “woke” corporations and seeking to stop CEO activism. In the face of that political pushback, many large companies have developed new processes and mechanisms to help them decide when to speak out and when to stay quiet. None are eager to find themselves in the fix that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek encountered in Florida, or to come under attack from the governors and attorneys general of red states trying to score political points.
