Today I want to assess Saturday’s No Kings protests in the context of American capitalism.
Standing up against Donald Trump is not only important politically and morally. It’s also profitable.
Diversity, for example, is good for business. CEOs that have scaled back their companies’ diversity programs in response to Trump’s attacks have misread the market and are now suffering the consequences.
When Target rolled back DEI, the company confronted a consumer boycott, which led to a 17 percent drop in the value of its stock. A similar boycott of Walmart has contributed to an 18 percent drop in its stock value in the past month alone.
Palantir, a data analysis and technology firm whose contracts with the federal government are expanding, has taken heat over its rejection of DEI and coziness with Trump. (In a recent speech to the Economic Club of New York, Palantir CEO Alex Karp told the audience that DEI programs are antithetical to meritocracy.)
On the other hand, corporations like Costco and Apple, which have stood firm against Trump and in favor of DEI, have done well.
That’s because diversity is good for business. Investors and consumers often consider a company’s commitment to diversity in making their decisions. Most big institutional shareholders such as BlackRock and Vanguard believe that a diverse workforce and customer base increases corporate profits.
Costco’s management says its DEI efforts have helped it attract and retain a wide range of employees and improve merchandise and services in stores. “Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the ‘treasure hunt’ that our customers value,” Costco said in its proxy statement to investors.
Similarly, law firms that have refused to cave to Trump’s blackmail are being rewarded by clients, while those that have surrendered are being penalized.
At least 11 major companies — among them Oracle, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, and McDonald’s — have shifted their legal work to firms that have stood up against Trump and away from firms that struck deals with him, The Wall Street Journalreports.
Microsoft dropped Paul, Weiss — one of the first law firms to surrender to Trump —and signed on with Jenner & Block, which took the administration to court. (A federal judge struck down Trump’s executive order against Jenner, saying it was “doubly violative of the Constitution.” Trump is appealing.)
Legal talent is also parting ways with firms that surrendered to Trump. Key lawyers and rainmakers are joining firms that have held their ground.
Paul, Weiss lost four of its partners after its surrender. One is among America’s top antitrust litigators; another co-chaired its litigation department.
As many as seven partners are exiting Willkie Farr & Gallagher in the wake of its surrender to Trump and joining rival law firm Cooley, which has helped successfully challenge one of Trump’s orders in court.
Corporate clients and legal talent are deserting law firms that surrendered to Trump because the surrenders have brought into question the integrity of these firm’s managing partners.
General counsels at various companies toldThe Wall Street Journal that they doubted that firms surrendering to Trump could be relied upon to represent them — in court or at the negotiating table — since they couldn’t stand up for themselves.
At a recent luncheon at Cipriani in Midtown Manhattan, Brooke Cucinella, a top lawyer for Citadel — a large hedge fund headed by Republican megadonor Ken Griffin — told a group of corporate lawyers that the company likes to work with law firms that aren’t afraid of a fight.
The lesson should be clear to CEOs and top managers: Surrendering to Trump is bad for business.
Another lesson: boycotts work. The consumer boycott of Target for abandoning DEI has been hugely costly to the corporation. Similarly with Walmart. The boycott of Tesla due to Elon Musk’s destructive role has caused investors to flee.
Remember: Corporations are little more than the power of their brands to attract consumers, and their ability to attract talented people to manage and innovate. If they surrender to Trump, their brands are likely to suffer since most Americans don’t approve of Trump’s bullying. And some of their most talented people are likely to leave, since many can’t abide Trump’s attempts to undermine our democracy.
Saturday’s No Kings Day protests were hugely successful. We should keep the heat on Trump as both consumers and investors — boycotting corporations and firms that cave in to him and rewarding those that don’t.
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/