- In today’s CEO Daily: Peter Vanham on what CEOs are thinking about “Trump Day” in Davos.
- The big story: Trump threatens Putin over Ukraine.
- The markets: Ecstatic!
- Analyst notes from Goldman Sachs, Herb Greenberg, Convera, and Apollo.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning from Davos. It’s Trump Day in the Swiss mountains, as the newly elected U.S. President is expected to address the World Economic Forum via video link from Washington, DC at 11 AM Eastern, just days after he was inaugurated there for a second time.
In other circumstances, Davos would snub a video address by pretty much anyone - it’s all about face time, not FaceTime here. (The only notable exception in recent history was when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dialed in to Davos from Kyiv via Zoom in May 2022, just months after the Russian invasion of his country.)
But Davos has become Trump’s Davos. Whether explicitly or implicitly, most leaders here now subscribe to or accept a variation of America First: Business First. For most American business leaders, it means they’re here for business, rather than to publicly discuss their political views, or tout their contribution to high-minded global goals.
And for European business leaders, it means they’re more concerned with remaining competitive in a Trump and U.S. Tech dominated world, than to lament MAGA.
This is what we heard in conversations here, to help make the point:
“We’re enterprise tech. We’re in the background. Davos just has a density of key people that make it a great place to come. My primary goal here is to meet with customers.” — Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO, Snowflake.
“We have to stop reacting to other people’s agendas. There is no conundrum. What our American customers want and need is useful to the American agenda, and useful to our business.” — Judith Wiese, Member of the Managing board, Siemens.
“Trump’s administration means that the destination [the U.S. market] has become more attractive, but the route to reach it more difficult.” — Al Cook, CEO, De Beers.
“In the U.S., Trump signed an executive order to halt all new regulation. In Europe, we are staggering regulations. That is hindering competitiveness.” — Sebastian Steinhauser, Chief Strategy Officer, SAP.
“My read is that Trump wants economic success in the US. We need to show that electrification is also good for them. That is the challenge and I like a challenge.” — Jeff Dodd, CEO, Formula E (the Liberty Global owned all EV race car championship).
— By Peter Vanham.
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