Tomorrow's Capitalist

A new dawn for capitalism: America’s corporate leaders are at the pragmatic center of a movement for social and economic progress in an era of political and cultural change. The core tenets of a capitalist system that dominated the world for more than a century are being challenged as never before. Narratives about the failures of capitalism, the greed of the 1%, and the blindness of corporations to public need have made their mark and are driving change. Not the superficial cosmetic fixes that generated so much cynicism in the past, but a revolution in the way corporations are imagined and run. Tomorrow’s Capitalist is a report from the front lines on how corporate CEOs—the ultimate pragmatists—realize that they could lose their “operating license” unless they tackle the fundamental issues of our time: climate; diversity and inclusion; and inequality and workforce opportunity. Responding to their employees and customers who are demanding corporate change, they have taken the lead in establishing some bold new principles promoting “stakeholder” capitalism, ensuring that for the first time in more than a half a century, it’s not just shareholders who have a say in how corporations are run. Stakeholder capitalism is not a panacea. Greed is inherent in human nature and corporate corruption will always be with us. But the new direction in governance is a real and compelling dynamic that is transforming much of corporate America today. Tomorrow’s Capitalist vividly captures the zeitgeist.