Tag: CEOs

Frida’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Again, a light of good news. Not all CEOs are profit-driven greedmeisters. Not all of them are weak-minded or fearful. Not all are ready to abandon their principles or their employees and roll over and do other tricks just because the Trusk Regime decrees it.

Marriott’s CEO spoke out about DEI. The next day, he had 40,000 emails from his associates

Snippet:

Much of the company’s success is driven by trust in leadership—including former chairman Bill Marriott, current chairman David S. Marriott, and CEO Anthony Capuano. 

In an interview at the Great Place to Work For All Summit in Las Vegas with the organization’s CEO, Michael Bush, Capuano spoke about a recent crossroads—and how he responded. 

Marriott’s CEO speaks out

After Trump announced sweeping changes to DEI in January, many executives and companies were left reeling.

Capuano says he met with his executive leadership team in Bethesda, Maryland, where they decided to take a week to research and process before meeting again. The CEO then flew to Los Angeles for the Americas Lodging Investment Summit. While there, he was inundated with questions about Marriott’s approach to DEI in the future. 

Rather than stay silent, Capuano recalled many conversations with his mentor and former chairman Bill Marriott, and decided to speak. 

“The winds blow, but there are some fundamental truths for those 98 years,” Capuano said. “We welcome all to our hotels and we create opportunities for all—and fundamentally those will never change. The words might change, but that’s who we are as a  company.” 

Capuano says he went back to his hotel that night hoping he had said the right thing. 

Capuano’s message was simple, but it didn’t go unnoticed by associates. He was overwhelmed by how his employees responded. 

“Within 24 hours, I had 40,000 emails from Marriott associates around the world, saying ‘thank you,’” he said. Many expressed appreciation to work for a company whose values aligned with their own. 

Marriott is among Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For that are sticking up for DEI policies right now. Others on the list include Delta and Cisco. 

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

See, Donald? This is leadership.

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Sunda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Okay, I made a BFM* today. I read a Ross opinion piece in the NYTimes.
“How Democrats Drove Silicon Valley Into Trump’s Arms”.

This was a conversation with Marc Andreessen. Andreessenwas supposedly explaining why he went from supporting Democrats to supporting Trump. Puke-inducing? You betcha! Andreessen made this flat-out statements and ‘lo, without any supporting information or explanation. This is his view and that’s just how it is. Say, isn’t that how Trump and Musk operate, too? Sure, you betcha! It’s the MAGA GOOP way in this century. Say some bullshit and ice it as fact.

BTW, I worked for a Fortune 500 company under three different CEO. Honest to god ‘blue chip’ company. Not one of those CEOs ever struck me as someone trying to convince the rest of us that they were a ‘good person.’ They cut and cut products, benefits, and headcounts, all trying to increase and optimize profits. But that’s just one company, right? Sure! But if Andreessen can make his statement and declare it as fact, so can I!

So here you go, some tasty *not* nuggets out of the Andreessen revelations.

“The most privileged people in society, the most successful, send their kids to the most politically radical institutions, which teach them how to be America-hating communists.”

***

“First of all, let me disabuse you of something, if you haven’t already disabused yourself. The view of American C.E.O.s operating as capitalist profit optimizers is just completely wrong.

“That’s like, Goal No. 5 or something. There’s four goals that are way more important than that. And that’s not just true in the big tech companies. It’s true of the executive suite of basically everyone at the Fortune 500.

“I would say Goal No. 1 is, “I’m a good person.” “I’m a good person,” is wildly more important than profit margins. Wildly.”

***

“But there were lots and lots of underground peer-to-peer discussions from 2018 through to 2021 saying, “OK, things are off the rails.” And my point is, we were softened up for the Biden radicalization. Then when the Biden administration turned out to be far more radical than even we thought that they were going to be then that’s what generated the response that ultimately — “

***

“Government-mandated enforcement of D.E.I. in very destructive ways. Some of these agencies have their own in-house courts, which is bananas. Also just straight-up threats and bullying.“

You can read the conversation. Ensure I’m not taking stuff out of context. That’s always possible, isn’t? Also, I quit reading. These pretenders had me ready to regurgitate everything I’d eaten so far in 2025.

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