- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady reports on what CEOs were saying at the DealBook Summit.
- The big story: Trump rolls back car efficiency standards.
- The markets: Mostly up.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. I spent yesterday hearing from dozens of business leaders onstage and off at the
New York Times DealBook Summit, deftly moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin. I was invited to moderate a thought-provoking breakfast conversation on the topic of mission as a driver of growth, with
Vanguard President and Chief Investment Officer Greg Davis,
Nike Chief Communications Officer Michael Gonda and author Simon Sinek. The takeaway for me: If leaders don’t internalize and institutionalize a company’s mission, it’s just rhetoric.
With that in mind, a few themes emerged for me:
Acceptance of a new normal. Opinions may change—fast. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed his earlier concerns about President Trump’s “maximalist” approach to trade wars, and inflation in blue states, saying his thinking on tariffs “had evolved.” But hearing
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong talk about a “golden age” in one of the worst weeks for crypto or GM CEO Mary Barra shrug off 180-degree policy shifts makes you realize that we’ve gotten used to it.
With the notable exception of California Governor Gavin Newsom, nobody had a negative word to say about Trump, tariffs or much of what’s happening on the federal policy front. “It’s amazing what feels normalized,” one foreign business leader told me.
The need for leaders to build trust. PR guru Richard Edelman told me to stay tuned for some daunting data on the mass-class divide in the upcoming Edelman Trust Barometer. A finance CEO pointed to a row of bodyguards, reminding me that Dec. 4 is the anniversary of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson being shot to death a few blocks away, with his alleged murderer in a downtown courthouse as we spoke.
On stage, Alex Karp of Palantir said leaders are losing credibility because they fail to give real opinions or face consequences for “completely stupid decisions.” He added that dyslexia made him
learn to think freely, he creates friction by blowing things up, and believes being authentically transparent to the point of rude has paid dividends with employees who know he’s going to tell the truth about products and the rest of the business, too. Not speaking up means you’re “underestimating your audience,” he said, and likely to lose access to smart people who’ll work elsewhere.
Stop talking about AI bubbles. Asset prices may be high and some investment dollars may be dumb, but the business case for AI is compelling.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink talked about revenue rising much faster than headcount. At my table conversation led by AOL cofounder and startup investor Steve Case, we talked about the opportunities to scale innovation and even spawn one-person unicorns.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made a compelling case that policymakers and leaders have to contend with the job loss and societal shift. But the benefits are clear. As attendee and noted CEO coach Marc Feigen told me: “The only bubble may be all this talk about AI bubbles.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
