One of the most prominent advocates for the concept of socially conscious “stakeholder capitalism” is Marc Benioff, CEO and founder of Salesforce.
Benioff is on board with the WEF’s Great Reset, a plan propped up in part by Salesforce’s participation in the creation of a “holistic” software solution for universal population “vaccine management.”
As pointed out by the New York Times, in August, Benioff boasted that Salesforce had generated over $5 billion in sales. He called it a “victory for stakeholder capitalism.” The next day, Salesforce let go of 1,000 employees.
A September study examining the pandemic-era actions of Salesforce and other members of the Business Roundtable, yet another association of companies who believe themselves to be anointed servants of stakeholders, pioneers toward the ultimate reality of corporation-controlled utopia, found many large corporations are not quite the benevolent leaders they claim to be.
The study was published by KKS advisors, as part of their “Test of Corporate Purpose” initiative. KKS itself is a consulting firm focused on “reshaping markets” and emboldening companies to achieve globalist Sustainable Development Goals or “Global Goals.” But its assessment of these corporations offers a unique window into the integrity, or lack thereof, of global partner companies and their supposed promises.
“Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s largest and most influential companies made promises to their stakeholders. In 2019, 181 CEOs in the Business Roundtable – a group that includes major companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Bank of America – redefined the purpose of a corporation to one that delivers value to all stakeholders, not just shareholders,” KKS explained upon releasing the study. KKS concluded that when it comes to companies’ commitments to their “stakeholders,” actions speak louder than words:
“Overall, our results suggest that corporate commitments to purpose are less informative about a company’s future performance on social and human capital issues than other indicators. What matters more is whether a company has a strong track record of proactively managing issues that may become material during a crisis, and whether a company is an early responder on relevant issues during a crisis.”
The report called out several specific companies who were not living up to their Roundtable promises, citing pandemic-related pay cuts, layoffs and furloughs as being categorically against “stakeholder” interests. Instead, KKS suggests that companies should opt for bankruptcy.
“Employees fare far better when a company declares bankruptcy than when it uses furloughs to cut costs. In bankruptcy, equity investors get paid last, whereas furloughs take cash from employees first,” the firm explained.
The report criticized Amazons job creation. While it was one of the only companies that actually created jobs during the pandemic, they were not the right kinds of jobs.
“Consider the example of Amazon.com. During the pandemic, the company created numerous jobs, for which it might ostensibly receive credit under a first-pass analysis. However, these jobs were largely low-quality. Many used zero-hour contracts, and they are unlikely in the medium and long term to align with a stakeholder primacy agenda.”
KKS also criticized Gilead Sciences, the producer of COVID-19 treatment drug Remdesivir, for the pricing of the potentially life-saving drug.
The drug “was priced by the company at $2,240 to $3,120 for a 5-day course (29th June),” noted KKS, adding that Public Citizen called the price “a display of hubris and disregard for the public.”
“This was not the first time Gilead had attracted controversy for access and affordability of life saving drugs. In 2018, patients sued Gilead, saying the company intentionally delayed safer HIV medicine. Gilead is accused of cutting anti-competitive deals to extend profit on HIV drug cocktails (May 2019),” reads the report. “The US government filed a patent infringement lawsuit in November 2019 against Gilead Sciences in federal district court, accusing the drug maker of ‘willfully and deliberatively’ infringing on Department of Health and Human Services patents for preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, for HIV prevention.”
Wells Fargo is among the companies promising to usher in a new era of compassionate capitalism, but KKS pointed out that Wells Fargo is famously allegedly involved in frequent efforts to defraud its customers. The consulting firm listed off a litany of lawsuits settled by Wells Fargo in recent years, including $10 million to the City of Philadelphia for discriminating against minority borrowers, multiple accusations of hiring discrimination, and $6.5 million to the Navajo Nation for “predatory” practices.
Adam Smith wrote 250 years ago, “I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it.” From 18th Century Scotland to 21st Century America, little has changed.
