Why are prominent business leaders so publicly involved in this election?

Dear Clint,

As you know (how could you avoid it?), we’re in the middle of a presidential election in the United States. I’ve found it fascinating to see so many prominent business leaders vocally support and actively raise money for their preferred candidate. They’ve also taken to attacking other business leaders for supporting a different candidate.

I don’t remember business leaders becoming so publicly involved in past elections. What do you make of this?

Sincerely,
Janice

Dear Janice,

You’ve made an astute observation. It does appear business leaders are diving into the political pool with flamboyant cannonballs.

You have the likes of Elon Musk, David Sacks, Marc Andreessen, and Bill Ackman on one side. On the other, well, that’s where you’ll find Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla, Mark Cuban, and something called VCsforKamala.

They’re following in the footsteps of a man named Donald J. Trump. In 2012, prominent businessman Trump enthusiastically supported Mitt Romney for president. They liked each other back then. It’s all a distant fever dream now, but Romney held a (pun intended) huge press conference at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas to proudly show off his hard-earned Trump endorsement. Romney even brought his wife!

In his book Romney: A Reckoning, McKay Coppins publishes an excerpt from Romney’s journal in which he writes, “This guy is not fake — he says 100% of what he thinks. No veneer, the real deal. Got to love him. Makes me laugh and makes me feel good, both. They just don’t make people like Donald Trump very often.”

It’s possible one of the aforementioned business leaders wants to run for political office in the future. That’s almost certainly true for Mark Cuban and David Sacks.

Why are they coming out so publicly? Three possibilities come to mind.

1. They can. Never in the history of mankind have business leaders been more powerful. The overwhelming influence that a handful of corporations, each worth more than many countries, have over our daily lives would make Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Carnegie blush. In fact, one could argue, without being laughed out of the room, that Elon Musk is currently the most influential person in the world.

    

2. There’s no one left to trust. No one believes the media, politicians, our long-standing institutions, or the self-proclaimed experts. It’s become “weird” to belong to a political party and blindly cheer them on like a hometown sports team. Almost by default, the public is looking to business leaders to step out of their comfort zone to provide leadership and lend their voice to matters that have little to do with their day jobs.

    

3. The United States is on the brink. The brink of what? Each side would have a different answer to that question. Outside of the Civil War, it’s hard to think of a period when America has been more divided than we are now. Giving these business leaders the benefit of the doubt — which just means we’re going to assume they genuinely care about the country’s future — don’t they have an obligation to get in the arena to help decide its fate?

There’s no such thing as neutral in our current environment. Stands must be taken; battles must be waged; silence is no longer an option. The future is at stake, they say. They may be right.

Word of caution seems appropriate. Strangely enough, today, those words come from the least cautious philosopher to ever walk the earth, Friedrich Nietzsche.

“Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become one himself. And when you stare for a long time into an abyss, the abyss stares back at you.”

BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL, Part IV, Section 146

Yours,
Clint Betts

Email: dearclint@ceo.com
Phone: (385) 217-0670