Judith Samuelson
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Articles by Judith Samuelson
The ghost of Milton Friedman will haunt the markets until companies fix CEO pay
Fifty years ago this week, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published an essay by the Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. The central premise of the Friedman Doctrine was that to continue to prosper, American business needed to stay globally competitive—and that required executives to focus only on profits and share price. He called for executives to ignore the distraction of the myriad social responsibilities that go beyond the legal minimum. Friedman’s call to action worked.
Who’s winning the battle for stakeholder capitalism?
Aug. 19, 2020, marks one year since the Business Roundtable released a new statement about the purpose of corporations, choosing so-called “stakeholders” over shareholders in pursuit of an “economy to serve all Americans.” It was a bold move that jolted the business press to life in the sultry days of August and offered some welcome news to those who believe we need business to make progress on significant challenges, from climate change to inequality. It felt long overdue.
Covid-19 is a chance for business leaders to rework their pact with society
A message appeared this week on the Notify NYC text feed, New York City’s official source of information about emergency alerts and city services; it was squeezed in between an update on how students can pick up grab-and-go meals at the entrance of their local school and the latest advice on containing the virus: If you’re a small business owner in NYC affected by COVID-19, visit nyc.gov/covid19biz or call 311 for info on grants, updates & more. *If* a small business is affected by Covid-19?
Microsoft has given us a glimpse of a carbon-negative future
“We don’t yet know which predictions about the climate will be most accurate, nor what effects we have failed to consider. But there is no denying the direction we are heading. Every government, company, and shareholder must confront climate change.”—BlackRock CEO Larry Fink ”No one company can solve this macro challenge alone, but as a global technology company we have a particular responsibility to do our part.
What is the real purpose of companies? Only their behavior can tell us
In his provocative book Fixing the Game, Roger Martin, head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, distinguishes between two kinds of market activity. The “Real” market includes everything needed to create goods and services for the customer—i.e. R&D, sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing and production, marketing, and all the labor and investment in infrastructure to support business activity.
What is the real purpose of companies? Only their behavior can tell us
In his provocative book Fixing the Game, Roger Martin, head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, distinguishes between two kinds of market activity. The “Real” market includes everything needed to create goods and services for the customer—i.e. R&D, sourcing of raw materials, manufacturing and production, marketing, and all the labor and investment in infrastructure to support business activity.
Did the Business Roundtable just sound the death knell for shareholder primacy?
The Business Roundtable, one of the most powerful pro-business lobbying groups in the United States, released a new policy statement today that demonstrates just how much business thinking has shifted in the last decade about how to measure the success of a company.
Why Stephen Schwarzman's big gift to Oxford matters for everyone else
Earlier this week, Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman gave $188 million to Oxford University to create the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, characterized by the university as “a dynamic hub dedicated to … those fields which inform our understanding and appreciation of the human experience.” The school adds that the Schwarzman Centre “will also be home to Oxford’s new Institute for Ethics in AI which will build upon the University’s world-class capabilities in the Humanities to lead...
Boeing’s muddled mission statement foretold the company’s current crisis
The idea that companies owe something to the public—to the society that grants the license to operate—is still considered a novel idea by some, but it’s hardly radical. Companies from the Container Store to Herman Miller to JetBlue to Microsoft and dozens more are very clear about their public purpose. What sets the successful ones apart isn’t the purpose statement, however; it’s the follow-through. You have to get both right.
Three things to consider as Levi Strauss returns to the public markets
In the world of brands, Levi’s is about as good as you can get. It enjoys a great origin story, global cachet, and a coolness that is enduring rather than ephemeral. The company’s reputation has been built over decades of investment, and under the current CEO, Chip Bergh, it has doubled down on innovation cemented in social and environmental values that will keep me a loyal consumer (although the company’s products are of a quality that I don’t have to replace them that often).
Three things to consider as Levi Strauss returns to the public markets
Three things to consider as Levi Strauss returns to the public markets In the world of brands, Levi’s is about as good as you can get. The company’s reputation has been built over decades of investment, and under the current CEO, Chip Bergh, it has doubled down on innovation cemented in social and environmental values that will keep me a loyal consumer (although the company’s products are of a quality that I don’t have to replace them that often).
Three things to consider as Levi Strauss returns to the public markets
In the world of brands, Levi’s is about as good as you can get. It enjoys a great origin story, global cachet, and a coolness that is enduring rather than ephemeral. The company’s reputation has been built over decades of investment, and under the current CEO, Chip Bergh, it has doubled down on innovation cemented in social and environmental values that will keep me a loyal consumer (although the company’s products are of a quality that I don’t have to replace them that often).
Larry Fink’s annual letter is a great reminder of the wisdom of Southwest's Herb Kelleher
Larry Fink’s 2019 “Dear CEO” letter just hit the press—and the airplane reading file for global elites heading off to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. The Blackrock letter is a required download for the Davos set. Fink vigorously attacks the very issues that make up the WEF agenda—and he writes at a moment that feels both economically rocky and socially perilous in Washington, London, Paris, and around the globe.
Our best hope for companies with social conscience is their workers
It’s hard to imagine a story able to wrest our attention away from the ominous scenes in Paradise, California, and yet it landed, just in time for Thanksgiving, in the form of an investigative piece from the New York Times. The story documents how Facebook executives ignored, then attempted to hide, and then twisted information about how Russia used its platform to influence the 2016 US presidential election.
Rather than “giving back,” companies should build business models that don’t take away
Two companies stepped into the political fray this month. Nike “took a knee” with its new ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. Levi Strauss released a $1 million commitment to reduce gun violence—calling for “Everytown” business peers to join the campaign. Nike and Levi Strauss are brands with edge. Each has a history of embracing controversial issues. Each resides in a “left coast” city dominated by populations and an employee base that likely identifies with their stance.
Overpaying CEOs is a terrible way to motivate them
This year, companies began to publish new data about pay—a comparison of the CEO’s compensation with the compensation of the “median” worker.
Elon Musk doesn’t seem to care about investor conference calls-and he shouldn’t
“I couldn’t care less” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said of day traders during the company’s quarterly earnings call last week. “Please sell our stock and don’t buy it.” Later, he called a question about short-term expectations “boneheaded” (the answer was already in the Q1 press release). Public companies typically host conference calls like these immediately after they release their earnings each quarter.
Professor Lynn Stout: A Legacy
“It’s all a question of story. We are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story. We are in between stories. The Old Story—the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it—is not functioning properly, and we have not learned the New Story.” ~ Thomas Berry Working alongside teacher and legal scholar Lynn Stout was like accessing a source of power with unlimited, rechargeable energy. Her passion for delving into complex problems was contagious. Her work ethic was legion.
Spotify's IPO should make us consider why we still use the term "capitalism"
When Spotify “went public” last week, it did so in name only, eschewing the usual fanfare of ringing the opening bell at the NYSE and most of the conventions of an IPO. While the price exceeded expectations in the early hours of trading—the most customary measure of success—CEO Daniel Ek had already made clear his real goal: to directly match public buyers with private sellers. Achieving a high price was nice for the sellers. It wasn’t all that material for the company.
Larry Fink's letter to CEOs is about more than "social initiatives"
By any measure, Larry Fink’s letter to CEOs this year is a game changer. When the head of BlackRock, the largest investor in the world, says that companies must produce not only profits, but contributions to society, it sends a powerful message. I pray it leads to thoughtful conversation in boardrooms and the c-suite. But that will require a careful reading of the letter itself, not just the early press—which sets up an age-old, worn-out debate about the social responsibility of business.
Martin Luther and the future of capitalism
The global corporation is the most influential institution of our day, more powerful and resilient than all but a few governments. Our current approach to business is not fair, and our system is fraying. Inequality is growing, the middle class continues to lose ground, and our infrastructure and political system are suffering. What would it take to rebuild the narrative about the purpose of the corporation, and the rules that govern key decisions?
Inequality: A Problem Worthy of a Business Response
According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, the American middle class no longer represents the majority of the U.S. population. "Middle-income" (defined today as $42,000 to $126,00 for a household of three) now captures about 50% of U.S. residents, down from 61% in 1971. The numbers demonstrate what we already know to be true. The massively wealthy are capturing more of the wealth of our nation and the number of poor are growing as well. The Middle Class is shrinking.
Samuelson and Stout Say Executives Should Be Compensated for Contributing to Companies' Long-Term Health
A last-minute provision added to the stimulus bill President Barack Obama signed into law on Feb. 17 restricts companies that accept federal bailout funds from paying performance bonuses that exceed one-third of an executive's total annual compensation. This punitive measure may be understandable as a reflection of populist fury over bonuses being paid to heads of failing companies that received billions in taxpayer money.
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