The recent release of the heroic Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from Russian detention raises to the forefront an infrequent but difficult challenge faced by chief executives of multinational enterprises: What to do about expatriate employees who are unjustly detained abroad? And does the company response really matter? And on both fronts, the record could not be clearer.
In Gershkovich’s case, his release was made possible in part by the unflagging loyalty of his employer, Dow Jones, who not only kept the unfortunate journalist’s plight in the news every day from the outset of his detention but also aggressively worked all and any levers they could find. In fact, Gershkovich’s employer even conspired with his family to circumvent the well-meaning but powerless mid-level government officials tasked with hostage recovery to get through directly to the highest levels, including confronting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in person and cultivating Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s savvy, pragmatic, and powerful national security advisor, as a key ally.
