The controversy around the LGBTQ+ support offered up by some major businesses, namely Bud Light (BUDFF) and Target (TGT), has sparked national attention in recent weeks, setting off boycotts, sales dips and inciting a national conversation on whether businesses ought to take stances on cultural and political issues.
Earlier in June, "Shark Tank" investor Mark Cuban, speaking at a conference, said that diversity is good business. In a June 11 interview with the Post Gazette, Cuban reiterated his stance on the issue, saying: “There is a reason almost all the top ten market cap companies in the U.S. can be considered ‘woke.’ It’s good business.”
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But Cuban's "Shark Tank" peer, Kevin O'Leary, disagrees.
"The thing about business is you can measure it. When you lose $9 billion of market cap, that goes right to the pocketbooks of shareholders," O'Leary said. "In business, it's all about the money. What happened here is a very important lesson was learned by those boards of directors and the CEOs. The shareholders are not happy."
The role of a business, according to Mr. Wonderful, is "not to educate society on the social issue of the day."
O'Leary added that it's not a surprise he doesn't agree with Cuban on this issue, saying "We don't agree on much. We're good friends, though. There's lots of room to have this discussion."
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But where Cuban thinks that showing care and support for customers could increase business, O'Leary thinks the opposite will happen.
"When you're Disney, or a beer company, or Target, you have customers of every kind. Republicans, Democrats, gender-specific or gender-neutral," he said. "You want to sell everybody everything all of the time. When you get involved in partisan issues, you basically lose 50% of your constituency."