In the wake of the shooting death of Alex Preti by federal agents in Minneapolis, a growing number of business leaders are speaking out and calling for a de-escalation of tensions.
However, a new CNBC poll shows that some CEOs and executives are remaining silent about the events unfolding in Minneapolis, reflecting that many leaders across the country are still weighing the situation and the risks of making public comments.
Of the 34 executives surveyed by CNBC about their companies’ responses to the events in Minneapolis, only one said their organization had publicly addressed the situation.
One respondent from a company whose company had not issued a statement said the reason was “we do not oppose ICE’s actions in Minnesota.” 9% said they were “still thinking about” speaking out. 18% are “worried about backlash from the Trump administration.” One-third (33%) of leaders say it’s not relevant to their business.
“Using our business for such tangential political purposes violates management’s fiduciary duties,” one executive said in response to the survey. “We do not consider silence to be an endorsement of the policies, actions, or character of the current administration.”
Just under a quarter of respondents said they did not know why they did not comment on the issue. Additionally, several respondents said in response to the survey that their companies have a specific policy of never making politically-related comments, and one respondent said that because they have many politically affiliated customers, they are expected to remain neutral on most issues.
CNBC’s Flash survey was sent to approximately 550 executives on January 26th and 27th. The leaders surveyed are members of the CNBC Council, a global leadership community of chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief human resources officers, employee and technology executives.
More than 70% of respondents said they have an office, do business, or have remote employees in Minnesota.
Reactions from Apple and OpenAI CEOs
A letter signed by the CEOs of 60 major Minnesota-based companies, including Target and Best Buy, was released Sunday, and several global business leaders spoke out urging an “immediate de-escalation” of tensions in the state.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who reportedly attended a private screening of the first lady’s new film Melania at the White House on Saturday night shortly after the shooting, sent a memo to Apple employees saying he was “heartbroken” by the situation in Minneapolis and urging them to de-escalate tensions.
“Now is the time to relax,” Cook wrote in a memo to employees, seen by CNBC. “I believe America is strongest when we live up to our highest ideals, treat all people with dignity and respect, no matter who they are or where they come from, and embrace our common humanity,” Cook wrote. Cook did not directly address the two fatal shootings by federal agents. CNBC has reached out to Apple for comment.
As first reported by CNBC’s “Squawk Box” co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also told employees in an internal Slack message earlier this week that “what’s happening at ICE is going too far.”
Lessons learned over the past five years
More business owners are speaking out, but the response is different from 2020, when many business owners and businesses expressed outrage over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Since then, business leaders have been criticized when their actions don’t match their rhetoric.
“No one wants to rush, and no one wants to be reactive,” said Dan Kaplan, managing director and global HR practice leader at ZRG Partners, a global executive search firm. “Going out and being bold and making demands, demands, declarations about things that you can’t do and that you can’t control is a big way to erode trust,” he said.
Some communications experts say companies, especially those in public and politically active positions, may need to further consider whether their responses are justified.
“One of the things we’ve been reminding our clients is that there is a next chapter in this moment,” said Brett Bruen, president and CEO of the Global Situation Room, a public relations consulting firm. “A lot of consumers, a lot of stakeholders, a lot of political leaders will remember that silence.”
An overwhelming majority of leaders in a CNBC survey agreed that this was not an easy decision. More than half (56%) say it is “much more difficult” to speak out today than in previous occasions when companies considered social or political causes. More than a quarter (29%) answered that it was “somewhat difficult.” Nearly 12% said it was “about the same,” and only 3% said it was “much easier.”
Researchers have found that companies risk alienating employees, customers, and investors by taking sides. The 2024 report said some CEOs could avoid that risk by taking a “neutral” stance, as in Minnesota, where they called for “officials to work together to foster progress.”
“When you deflect, you’re satisfying the needs of the people you want to hear, but you’re not dividing the country with what you say,” said Michael Durney, an assistant professor at the University of Iowa’s Tippy College of Business and the study’s principal investigator.
Leadership consultants argue that executives should also stay within their control. “The way to do that is to focus on the issues that we can have an impact on, and focus on the things that we can do to keep our employees safe and take care of their health,” Kaplan said. “If you can’t make an impact, just being bold, passive, or emotional won’t help anyone.”
