Good morning. When BlackRock CEO Larry Fink became co-chair of the World Economic Forum last year, he called up U.S. President Donald Trump and asked him to come speak, which he did. Fink also called Scott Galloway, an author, podcaster and NYU Stern marketing professor who has a very different view of what will make America great. As Galloway told me last night at our annual Fortune Global Leadership Dinner: “Larry Fink called me and said, ‘I want you to come.’ That was greater than sufficient.”
With all the focus at WEF on heads of state—I even joined a media scrum after Trump’s assembly with Ukraine chief Volodymyr Zelensky—I believed I’d convey you some insights from my dialog with Galloway. (I first met Galloway in 2009 as a fellow mentor at the Kairos Summit organized by then Wharton scholar Ankur Jain, who went on to discovered Bilt Group.)
Galloway final attended WEF in 1999. “The call sign of America back then was consumerism; it was more cooperation, alliances. Now, I feel the American brand is chaos, corruption and coercion,” he stated. “America has been the operating system of the world … There’s just a sense of unease … In 1999, we said ‘we want more,’ now we want to make sure things don’t get worse.” He praised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech as the greatest of the week. “All 27 member EU states should have been sitting behind him,” Galloway stated. “Right now, it’s like Germany and the 26 dwarves.”
In soliciting each Galloway and Trump to return to Davos, Fink understands the energy of WEF in bringing opposing world views beneath one roof. I heard Saudi Tourism Minister HE Ahmed Al-Khateeb evaluate notes with Switzerland Tourism CEO Martin Nydegger, noticed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick chat with random folks in the corridor, together with me, and witnessed dozens of international leaders discover areas of commonality at our dinners and lunches. (That’s why I additionally appreciated having Deloitte, Aon, PMI, Toptal, and Workday sponsor editorial gatherings that allow us create our personal village greens.)
On Monday, I moderated a CEO salon to debate the outcomes of the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, wherein 70% of this yr’s respondents expressed an “insular” mindset; they don’t need to discuss to, work for, and even be in the similar house with anybody who doesn’t share their world view. Richard Edelman instructed me CEOs have to urgently handle the sense of grievance that’s consuming the enterprise world.
What leaders achieved at Davos is by no means instantly apparent—the particulars of the Greenland deal, for one, are nonetheless sketchy—but by exhibiting up, Davos members had been at the very least coming along with an intuition to attach. That’s an excellent place to begin.
Contact CEO Daily by way of Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
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CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams, Claire Zillman and Lee Clifford.
