Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will soon be heading to Washington, where the company will hold its first-ever inaugural party on Sunday with X Corporation and Free Press.
In a few days, Khosrowshahi will head to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the 54th World Economic Forum. In recent years, the event has become a forum for making the very same kinds of corporate commitments that President Trump has denounced, including ESG initiatives. , DEI and globalism.
Mr. Khosrowshahi's itinerary represents a significant shift in corporate America. Many CEOs once distanced themselves from Trump, but now embrace him. And after years of touting a softer form of capitalism, they are once again focused on profits.
“All other issues have been replaced by serious conversations about geopolitics, economics, and how to deal with a rapidly changing world,” said Alexander Geyser, CEO of advisory firm FGS Global. he told Dealbook.
Despite coinciding with the inauguration, Davos is expected to draw familiar staff members. DealBook has heard that Goldman's David Solomon will arrive on Wednesday after attending an inaugural event in Washington DC over the weekend. Blackstone's Stephen Schwartzman will leave for Davos on Monday after Sunday's inaugural event. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey also attended Davos and just presented President Trump with a special Diet Coke at Mar-a-Lago.
But even though the crowd was the same, the conversation had changed. Here's how:
ESG: Davos has been chosen as the venue for splashy climate change announcements. In 2020, Salesforce's Marc Benioff set a goal of planting 1 trillion trees. That same year, BlackRock's Larry Fink headed to Davos shortly after announcing a series of initiatives focused on climate change. Since then, Fink has become the face of ESG and has expressed regret at being the target of the ensuing backlash.
While some executives may continue to focus on sustainability, few, if any, will mention ESG by name. The same applies to “DEI”. Management has largely eliminated its digital and physical presence.
There are some exceptions. Pinterest hosts a panel discussion on using artificial intelligence for “inclusion and belonging,” and consulting firm Oliver Wyman presents research on the importance of women's representation in business and government.
Tariffs: Davos has long touted the benefits of a globalized world, but executives will focus on the effects of an increasingly divided world. What does President Trump's “America First” policy mean for global trade agreements, including NATO? Will President Trump impose targeted tariffs? And could his administration grant exceptions to some companies?
Howard Lutnick, President Trump's pick for secretary of commerce, typically does not attend Davos, a spokesman said. Lutnick's confirmation had been scheduled for this week but has been delayed due to paperwork.
The growing power of technology: Artificial intelligence is a perennial topic. But the race for dominance appears to be reaching a crescendo of ferocity, making the question of how to regulate an industry that could reshape the global economy even more urgent. Social media moderation on Friday after the Supreme Court upheld a law forcing TikTok owner ByteDance to sell to a non-Chinese owner or face a ban in the United States. It is expected that there will be plenty of discussion about the future of TikTok.
Frank McCourt, the billionaire who is trying to buy TikTok, will attend Davos. So does General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford, who is a member of ByteDance's board of directors. Many of the CEOs of global technology companies are scheduled to speak at President Trump's inauguration, but as usual, they are absent from Davos. Among the chief executives scheduled for the inauguration are Arm CEO Rene Haas, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be in Switzerland.
War and Peace: With the Middle East's ceasefire fragile, all eyes are on whether President Trump can sufficiently stabilize the region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been a prominent presence at Davos, rallying Ukraine's cause, but the big question this time around will be whether Trump can push for an end to Russian aggression.
How long will Davos continue to pretend like this? Although the event has always sought to position itself as an exercise in making the world a better place, Davos has always had two things on its agenda. Some of the agenda items are nominally announced by the World Economic Forum, while others are made by executives on the sidelines.
At a time when political rhetoric stands in stark contrast to much of Davos' traditional message, big questions loom over the event itself. Will it more openly embrace the role it has effectively played for many years as a CEO conference?
— Lauren Hirsch, Andrew Ross Sorkin
In case you missed it
The Supreme Court also on Sunday upheld a law requiring TikTok to sell or be banned. App Store operators such as Apple and Google may face significant penalties under the law if they continue to distribute or update apps. President-elect Trump is exploring the possibility of an executive order that would allow TikTok to continue operating despite the pending ban, but it is unclear what that intervention would look like.
Firefighters have made progress against wildfires in Los Angeles. The fire killed at least 27 people and damaged or destroyed about 12,000 structures. Insured losses could exceed $20 billion, according to JPMorgan.
Goldman gave its CEO an $80 million bonus. The reward for David Solomon to stay on for five more years ended speculation that the executive would step down as Goldman's stock soared.
Stocks rose on the final trading day of Biden's presidency. At yesterday's close, the S&P 500 index was up about 56 percent in his four years in office, buoyed by strong corporate profits and investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence boom. Still, the U.S. Treasury market was particularly volatile during the period, as concerns about inflation and rising budget deficits weighed on demand.
The big man who disappeared
Elon Musk is at stake in a wide range of geopolitical issues, from the fate of TikTok to the war in Ukraine, and is likely to dominate the conversation at Davos this year.
Just don't expect him to directly participate in those discussions.
Musk, who previously called the world summit a “boring meeting,” has not registered to attend the event, a World Economic Forum spokesperson told Dealbook. That's what it means.
The tech mogul hasn't always been hostile to Davos. In 2008, the Forum named Musk one of its “Young Global Leaders,” along with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and skateboarder Tony Hawk. However, things started to deteriorate in 2022, when Mr. Musk wrote to X that he had declined an invitation to a 2023 meeting. (A forum representative told the press that Musk has not been invited since 2015.)
Around that time, Musk said Davos had given him “willies” and polled the audience on whether “the World Economic Forum should rule the world.”
Musk is currently involved in many of the issues that will be focused on at the conference, given his business interests and relationship with Trump. According to the Wall Street Journal, he has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022. He also participated in meetings with President Trump, including Zelensky, and spoke with the Iranian government on several issues, Iranian officials said.
Many believe that Musk could influence President Trump on China. The president-elect has threatened to impose hefty tariffs on Chinese goods. But Musk said he is “in a sense pro-China.” Tesla makes about half of its cars in the country and is awaiting approval to offer its latest self-driving technology there.
Musk's ties to Chinese officials are so strong that some are reportedly considering allowing him to invest in or acquire TikTok's U.S. operations.
Mr. Musk is seizing power in other ways. His satellite internet provider, Starlink, is increasingly being used in war zones, potentially giving Musk unprecedented influence over global conflicts. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Putin has asked Musk not to activate Starlink over Taiwan as a favor to China.
And through his frequent posts to more than 210 million followers, X influences public policy around the world, including in the UK and Germany.
Maybe next year? “Elon Musk will be welcomed to Davos this year and next,” a forum spokesperson told Dealbook. “There will be a lot of interest in his new role in the business community.”
Davos agenda in numbers
What do world leaders have in mind as they head to Davos? Armed conflict has emerged as the top global risk, according to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum.
The 900 survey respondents included leaders from academia, business, government, international organizations, and civil society. Almost a quarter said war is the crisis most likely to negatively impact global GDP, population and natural resources in 2025.
The top 5 answers are:
1. State-based armed conflict (23%)
2. Abnormal weather (14%)
3. Geoeconomic conflict (8%)
4. Misinformation and disinformation (7%)
5. Social polarization (6%)
A separate survey released this week by the Conference Board asked 1,722 executives to identify their two biggest concerns across several risk categories. Here's what they chose:
Recession or recession (45.7%) was the top economic risk, ahead of rising labor costs (26.4%), inflation (25.7%), labor shortages (24.5%), and fiscal policy (18.5%).
Among geopolitical risks, tensions between China, the United States, and the European Union (40.6%), global political instability (39.3%), political uncertainty in the region of operation (34.7%), and cyber attacks (25.2%) %), outpacing rising nationalism (16%).
Artificial intelligence (33.9%) will lead to demographic changes (26.1%), changes in consumer purchasing behavior (26%), political polarization (25.2%), and declining trust in government (18.7%). This has become the greatest social risk.
The focus on AI is also reflected in a survey of 3,450 executive leaders released this week by Accenture, which found that 86% of respondents feel ready to increase investment in generative AI. I answered yes.
Thanks for reading! See you on Monday.
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