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Tomorrow's Capitalist
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Tomorrow's Capitalist

My Search for the Soul of Business

Alan Murray
Public Affairs, 2022

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening
  • Eloquent

Recommendation

In this thoughtful book, Fortune Media CEO Alan Murray considers business leaders’ changing priorities. At the start of the 21st century, most executives adhered to economist Milton Friedman’s theory that broader social aims distort the market’s efficiency. They held that a leader’s only duty is to maximize shareholder profits. However, the 2008 financial crisis sparked a reevaluation. Now, more than half of American corporations’ value lies in “intangibles,” such as brands and intellectual property. Leaders tend to focus less on the bottom line than on having talented people, and many prioritize meaning and purpose along with – or even above – profits.

Take-Aways

  • In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, business leaders began to shift their focus from shareholders to stakeholders.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t a financial crisis; it was a stakeholder crisis.
  • The pandemic gave the pharmaceutical industry an opportunity to redeem itself.

About the Author

Alan Murray is the CEO of Fortune Media. He writes for Fortune CEO Daily and co-hosts the Leadership Next podcast. He is the author of Showdown at Gucci Gulch: Lawmakers, Lobbyists and the Unlikely Triumph of Tax Reform.

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