Dem
51
GOP
49
We really didn't plan it this way, but the counterpart to this week's Schadenfreude features someone from the exact same game show. Not Kevin O'Leary this time, but his Shark Tank colleague Mark Cuban. The latter, at least by net wealth, is vastly more successful than the former; $5.4 billion vs. $400 million.
In any case, many conservatives would like you to believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are very bad for business. The general notion they put forward is that not only are businesses compelled to spend (waste?) money on such efforts, but by favoring (forcing?) the hiring of women and minority candidates, they saddle companies with inferior employees. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is perhaps the most outspoken critic of such programs, and has done what he can to get rid of them, although his power extends more to public institutions rather than private ones.
DeSantis, who has never run a business, is operating in the realm of theory when it comes to DEI and the private sector. Cuban, who has run hundreds of businesses, is operating in the realm of cold, hard fact. Recently, conservative activist Christopher Rufo and podcaster Jordan Peterson both took to Ex-Twitter to collectively rail against DEI and to assert that they are a drag on profits. Cuban was having none of it, responding:
First of all, my arguments are not abstract.
I own or invest in hundreds of companies. I know DEI is a positive because I see its impact on bottom lines. That's been reiterated by many CEOs.
My definitions of D, E and I are not theoretical. They are actually used. Are yours?
You have sides. I don't.
I'm an entrepreneur and capitalist. I look for results. That's what I base my decisions on.
Every single person on Twitter could disagree with me. I would still follow the results I see in my portfolio.
Cuban later suggested that Rufo and Peterson are living in a right-wing bubble, and that "Twitter is not reflective of the real world." That's pretty clearly also a thinly-veiled shot at Elon Musk, with whom Cuban has argued DEI before.
It should be noted that Cuban is no bleeding-heart left-winger. His politics are mixed, but tend to be more Libertarian than anything else. So, when he says that DEI initiatives dovetail nicely with the bottom line, he is surely speaking truth.
In any event, it's good to see blowhards who don't know what they are talking about corrected by people who do know what they are talking about. The affirmation that DEI initiatives do not mean trading [X] for [Y], and that they can be and are "win-win" is also great. (Z)