How 'Business for Good' Went Bad

IT MAY SEEM LIKE THE SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SINGLE-HANDEDLY PULLED THE PLUG ON STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM, BUT IN REALITY, IT WAS SPUTTERING FOR YEARS.

- James Surowiecki

"Capitalism as we know it is dead." I Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff made that proclamation at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in 2019. "We're going to see a new kind of capitalism," he went on.

INSIDE THE RISE AND FALL OF AN UNPRECEDENTED ERA OF BUSINESS AND WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. C“Capitalism as we know it is dead.” I Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff made that proclamation at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in 2019. “We're going to see a new kind of capitalism,” he went on.

"IF YOUR ORIENTATION IS JUST ABOUT MAKING money, I don’t think you're going to hang out very long as a CEO or a founder of a company.”

Benioff’s remarks were striking, but not shocking. He was merely articulating what had become the conventional wisdom among business leaders in that moment. After decades of serving shareholders alone, CEOs were now embracing the idea that they should also be concerned about stakeholders—employees, customers, suppliers, local communities, and even the planet.

This notion of “business for good” had become mainstream. Silicon Valley giants like Google and Facebook rose to power while touting their commitment to transforming the world for the better. Tesla became a trillion-dollar company while talking about saving the planet.

Mission-driven startups like Toms, Warby Parker, and Bombas helped reshape the way people shop, giving away one product for every one sold, while high-profile startups like Uber and Airbnb insisted that they, too, were trying to do more than make money. (Airbnb says its mission is to “create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.”) Even big, established corporations embraced the idea that, in Benioff’s words, business could be “the greatest platform for change.”

They launched diversity and inclusiveness initiatives and took steps to reduce their carbon footprint, vowing to be net carbon zero by 2030. “Doing well by doing good” was no longer just a niche concept. It was here to stay.