For CEOs and CEO aspirants, building or simply strengthening a direct relationship with the White House will be even more important during the next presidential term, as evidenced by the slew of tech executives taking a knee before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for example, visited Mar-a-Lago during Thanksgiving week in an attempt to repair his fractious relationship with the president-elect, who has long been critical of the technocrat’s social media platform.
He is not alone. CEOs like Google’s Sundar Pichai and Amazon’s Andy Jassi, as well as founder Jeff Bezos, have all reached out to President-elect Trump, seeking early engagement to discuss priorities, strategize and ensure favorable outcomes.
This approach reflects the playbook of Apple CEO Tim Cook. Since Trump’s first term, Cook has maintained regular communication with the administration, attending White House meetings and advisory councils. He emphasized shared goals such as job creation and manufacturing in the US, while emphasizing Apple’s “America First” contribution. Trump, in turn, publicly praised Cook as a reliable and effective advocate for business and economic growth, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Other leaders, both in and out of tech, are now adopting similar strategies, using private meetings with the new administration to advocate for their companies, influence policy and win favor.
Navigating the transactional style of Trump’s leadership, however, faces challenges. He often demands unwavering loyalty, making these commitments a calculated risk for those who can’t quite navigate the wiles of the president-elect. Leaders must carefully balance showing support for the administration while avoiding the consumer pitfalls that could arise from that or perceived disloyalty on the part of the Trump campaign.
Cook’s ability to navigate this dynamic diplomatically — for now, anyway — is a skill in itself.
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
Today’s newsletter was curated by Natalie McCormick.
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A lesson in leadership
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Flogel discussed the importance of flexibility and change after the reorganization was announced.
“Change is difficult, and of course when you’re involved in a restructuring that negatively affects your life, it’s a sad event… But not doing that is really bad management.
Look at the companies that didn’t change, that had to change but didn’t want to. That’s why I’m asking you if you have any Nokia phone? Well, where is Nokia’s phone business now? Have you ever owned a BlackBerry? Where are they? Have you ever rented a video from Blockbuster? Of course. Where are they?”
News to know
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, after a phone conversation with President-elect Donald Trump, expressed confidence that a tariff war with the United States can be avoided. AP
The world’s richest people have collectively increased their fortunes by $585 billion, fueled by a stock market boom largely fueled by the artificial intelligence boom. Fortune
Lei Zhang, the Chinese investor who made billions for Yale University by backing companies such as Tencent, is now rethinking his China strategy as US-China relations sour amid slowing growth and rising geopolitical tensions. WSJ
HSBC’s CEO changes the bank’s leadership through a major restructuring, including reducing the management committee, consolidating regions and implementing competitive re-bidding for senior roles in the newly combined divisions. Bloomberg
The CEO of carmaker Stellantis, which owns brands such as Jeep, Citroën and Ram, has resigned. An executive committee led by a chairman will be established while the company searches for a successor. Fortune
