Elon Musk attends 'Exploring the New Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in Conversation with Elon Musk' session during the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 - Day Three on June 19, 2024 in Cannes, France.
Elon Musk attends ‘Exploring the New Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in Conversation with Elon Musk’ session during the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 – Day Three on June 19, 2024 in Cannes, France.
MARC PIASECKI/GETTY IMAGES

After an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a political rally on Saturday, some prominent business leaders widely expected to support him, including X CEO Elon Musk and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, officially endorsed him for president.

“Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt,” Musk said on X, admiring how quickly Trump, one ear bloodied, rose from the ground after his security detail tackled him to keep him safe. Ackman, who had in recent months voiced support for Trump ever more openly, announced his formal support and said he would be making a more detailed endorsement soon.

Other Trump enthusiasts also took to X to praise the presumptive Republican nominee. “There’s not a braver man in America than Donald Trump,” wrote David Sacks, a Silicon Valley investor who is raising money for the candidate, and whose support for the former president has been met with some controversy.

But such partisan reactions were the exception rather than the rule. While many CEOs weighed in on the assassination attempt, they mostly steered clear of politics and stuck to well-wishes for Trump along with a condemnation of political violence and calls for calmer rhetoric. “There is simply no place for any type of violence in our society. Sending my best wishes to President Trump for a speedy recovery,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X. Other CEOs including Amazon’s Andy Jassy, Marc Benioff of Salesforce, Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon, GM’s Mary Barra, and Tim Cook of Apple, tweeted out similar messages. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who has sometimes clashed with Trump, told employees he was “deeply saddened by the political violence,” according to CNBC.

The Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs from major companies was similarly nonpolitical. It said in a statement that its members are “relieved that President Trump is safe. We call on all Americans to reject political violence and to commit to resolving political differences peacefully.”

And don’t expect other business leaders to quickly start choosing sides one way or the other anytime soon. It would be premature and tasteless for any CEO who supports the Democrats to weigh in right now, so soon after the attempt on Trump’s life. But more broadly, it’s rare for companies and their CEOs to openly endorse candidates at all, because they must work with whoever ultimately wins an election and must avoid angering a large contingent of their clientele.

What’s more, companies, especially publicly traded ones, have to factor in all stakeholders. (Notably, the U.S. stock markets barely budged on Monday, their first day of trading since the shooting.) With all the hyperbole and conspiracy theories circulating online about the assassination attempt, it would be all too easy for companies to get pulled into political disputes that can only hurt business.

During Trump’s first campaign in 2016, Macy’s was embroiled in controversy after it dropped Trump’s line of clothing over his remarks about immigrants. More recently, brands like Bud Light and Target faced consumer boycotts over their support of transgender rights. Corporate efforts for more diversity in the workplace have also become politicized. Earlier this month, Tractor Supply founded itself in a maelstrom over its decision to halt its diversity and inclusion programs, as well as efforts to track its carbon footprint.

The potential damage to a CEO taking a political stand too publicly goes beyond potentially angering customers and extends to perhaps alienating employees who might not share those leanings. “They want to have a balance between freedom to express political opinions, but also freedom from having other people’s opinions intimidate you in the workplace,” says Joanne B. Ciulla, director at the Institute for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey.

So in this environment, it is not at all surprising that the vast majority of CEOs see a third rail in anything political, and are exercising caution when wading into those waters.