- A gaggle of former CEOs printed an op-ed Tuesday endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
- They wrote that Donald Trump can be unhealthy for enterprise and unhealthy for the US financial system.
- It comes as Trump has touted the assist of Elon Musk and leaders in finance and different industries.
A gaggle of former CEOs who led main US corporations — together with American Airways, LinkedIn, Xerox, and American Categorical — made the case for Kamala Harris in an op-ed one week earlier than Election Day.
The 17 enterprise leaders stated they had been voting for Harris as a result of they thought she’d be higher for the financial system than former President Donald Trump. They made their case in Fortune on Tuesday.
The group included former LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman, former American Airways CEO Doug Parker, former American Categorical CEO Ken Chenault, former Sony CEO and present Snap chairman Michael Lynton, and others who led massive, publicly traded corporations.
“Many People proceed to consider that the CEOs of the nation’s largest corporations are largely Donald Trump supporters — however nothing might be farther from the reality,” they wrote.
The group stated present CEOs might not be capable of communicate out publicly due to potential penalties to their companies. Due to that, they stated they felt obligated to talk up as former leaders who’re in contact with energetic CEOs.
They stated Trump has taken “excessive anti-business” positions, together with proposing “draconian” tariffs on imports. In addition they criticized Trump’s discuss eliminating the Fed’s independence.
The group stated they arrive from totally different political backgrounds however are supporting Harris partly due to the state of the US financial system. They cited GDP progress, report inventory market valuations, wage progress, and employment ranges, amongst different measures.
The op-ed comes after Elon Musk has change into more and more concerned in supporting Trump’s presidential bid. “I have never been politically energetic earlier than; I am politically energetic now as a result of I feel the way forward for America and the way forward for civilization is at stake,” Musk stated at a city corridor he hosted final Saturday in Swatara Township, Pennsylvania.
Different enterprise leaders have publicly supported Trump, together with Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who stated this week that Trump can be “environment friendly and efficient.”
In the meantime, some enterprise leaders have prevented taking a place publicly even when they assist one candidate or one other in non-public.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor on the Yale Faculty of Administration and founding father of the Chief Government Management Institute, who’s listed as one of many two non-CEO authors of Tuesday’s op-ed, beforehand advised Enterprise Insider that the majority chief executives do not publicly endorse candidates as a result of they’re “involved about alienating prospects and staff needlessly.”