Jamie Dimon And The Scandal In Riyadh

The requirement that chief executives consider both moral and strategic imperatives will be a constant feature of the C-Suite over the next decade.

dimonWhen the chief executives of JP Morgan, BlackRock, Blackstone, and Mastercard canceled their attendance at “Davos in the Desert,” the Saudi development conference, only Jamie Dimon was thinking of Shakespeare.

JP Morgan’s pensive chief executive was a cum laude student at Tufts University during the time that Sylvan Saul Barnet, our nation’s preeminent Shakespeare scholar, was chair of the English department. Henry II was required reading. In the play, Shakespeare chronicled the king’s outburst after the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, excommunicated his closest supporters:

“Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

In Shakespeare’s version, the king’s knights traveled from Normandy to Canterbury with swords drawn, where they slew the priest in a botched showdown that resulted in partial decapitation before delivering the coup de grace.

What Henry’s courtiers had not foreseen were the crowds of supporters outside the palace as rumors spread of the sensational slaying. When it was discovered that Becket was wearing a hair suit beneath his priestly garments, a “humility” shirt infested with lice and insects, he turned into a martyr and Henry was vilified.

Pope Alexander placed the threat of excommunication on Henry’s head, and would not allow him to hear mass until Henry expiated his sin. In May 1172, the king visited the Cathedral at Avranches, spending several days wailing, whipped, and chastising himself.

Dimon would naturally see the parallel to the global scandal unfolding in the House of Saud, the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. He would also understand the only way forward, which has eluded the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud.

MBS, as the prince is known, is presumed to have uttered the same ominous words to his men about the Washington Post’s Jamal Khashoggi. The grisly murder of the journalist and the hasty cover-up attempt that followed are as Shakespearean as the outrage now expressed by the public.

The parallels to Khashoggi are compelling. In life, the Washington Post journalist was troublesome, annoying, mercenary, anti-Semitic, a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and an extremist. But in death, like Becket, he is a martyr. And in this role, his followers have the ability to threaten anyone who steps over the line of public opinion, which is the lesson Dimon took from Shakespeare.

What the famously articulate banker learned was that the Saudi royal family must act penitently and offer abject humiliation, and to appear to suffer for their crimes. None of this has happened, and it is why Dimon’s canceling his attendance at the conference was the right move, both politically and morally. It is nothing less than a boycott of the royal family, the most powerful entity on earth controlled by a single group. Yet the power of social media is such that even global mega chief executives must bow to its call.

The requirement that chief executives consider both moral and strategic imperatives will be a constant feature of the C-Suite over the next decade. Social media creates a radical inversion of authority. It makes celebrities out of nobody’s and turns real celebrities into pariahs, as the “me-too’ movement has done. Royal families to influential business honchos have learned no one is safe crossing a line drawn by Twitter and Facebook.

In the case of the House of Saud, the Khashoggi assassination has turned the journalist into a martyr and a celebrity and the Al Saud’s have replaced the Gotti’s as the world’s most infamous crime family. It is a stunning reversal of fortune for the wealthiest, most geopolitically astute and security conscious rulers in the world.

Like Henry II, the Saudi royals must find a way to express genuine remorse. The longer that takes, the more repentance that will be required. Time may be on the side of the royal family. But unless things cool down considerably, the only appropriate reaction for a global chief executive is to go dark and wait for the public mood to shift.

The lesson, as Lord Palmerston reminded us, is that business is like a nation in that it “has no permanent friends or allies, only permanent interests.” In the case of Jamie Dimon, canceling a conference was very Shakespearean. His permanent interest is with the public.

RelatedSiemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton Leads Efforts To Elevate Women In Manufacturing


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.