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Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s support of Donald Trump amid his war against diversity earns the wrath of a leadership guru. Billionaire CEOs like Tesla’s Musk, Meta’s Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and a handful of other world’s wealthiest men rallied behind Trump throughout his presidential campaign. These moguls received their due recognition with highly-placed seats at the inauguration last month, and have continued to back the POTUS despite his mostly controversial policies since taking office.
Some of the most scandalous decrees yet appear to target diversity, equity, and inclusion, which thrived freely during Joe Biden’s far-left administration. The Guardian writer Stefan Stern in a new piece has called out these billionaires turning a blind eye to Trump’s anti-DEI movements.
Why CEOs Siding With Donald Trump Are Wrong on Diversity
In his critical write-up, Stern recounted the irony in Mark Zuckerberg’s shift from being an active supporter of the DEI movement, with up to $1.26 billion spent “with US certified diverse suppliers” in 2022 alone, to doing a complete 360 and announcing Meta’s DEI dismantling following Donald Trump’s election. The writer explained,
“It is possible these decisions were taken partly on legal advice, Zuckerberg seems to have pre-empted the attorney general, Trump’s Florida favorite Pam Bondi, as she recently declared that there should be an end to what she called illegal DEI and accessibility discrimination.”
The writer asserted that while in-house counsel might have indeed played a role in a bid to avoid legal trouble amid Donald Trump’s anti-DEI policies, Mark Zuckerberg “is not merely being cautious.” Stern, who has over two decades’ worth of experience writing about leadership and management, cited the tech mogul’s recent move of his former chief diversity officer to a different role concerned with accessibility and engagement, rather than letting him off altogether.
Elsewhere in the article, Stern alluded to Musk’s recent allegations against public officials and unsubstantiated claims that officials of the now-gutted USAID had been taking “kickbacks,” leading to robust bank accounts way above their pay grade. Criticizing Elon Musk’s public allegations with no evidential backing while Donald Trump “looked on calmly,” Stern divulged,
“This is not model CEO behavior. And this is not the leadership we need.”
Stern also called out the CEOs of McDonald’s, Accenture, General Motors, Pepsi, Walmart, Amazon, Boeing, Deloitte, and Google for acting in similar fashion directly or indirectly. He pointed out how most of these giants have switched sides in recent months, much like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Why Some of the World’s Richest Men Rally Behind Trump
The Meta CEO and former Trump critic has faced criticism for his switcheroo, with many mocking him for sucking up to the president for favors. However, Mark Zuckerberg would beg to differ, claiming in a recent sit-down with Joe Rogan that his efforts to retract some of Meta’s past policies like the fact-checking and censorship programs, in favor of more Donald Trump-friendly policies were simply aimed at promoting users’ free expression, while reducing content moderation errors.
On his part, Elon Musk has been open about his decision to take a stand for Donald Trump despite previously voting Democrat. In a 2022 tweet, the X CEO revealed the reason behind his defection from the far-left political party. According to the tech mogul, he previously supported Democrats because they represented the kindness party. However, in recent years, they have become “the party of division and hate,” Musk claimed, hence, his decision to embrace the Republican party. The billionaire has continued to make good his resolve, reportedly spending up to $277 million to back the Trump campaign. His efforts have paid off so far, with the tech billionaire snagging a seat in the White House as a special government employee, championing the DOGE initiative.
