When Charles Gasparino set out to report on Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, he had no idea he was about to uncover a much larger story: the radical transformation of American business.
Gasparino, a veteran financial journalist at Fox Business, initially focused on the bank’s poor risk management. But he soon stumbled upon something more troublesome—an unhealthy fixation on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies.
This misplaced focus, Gasparino argues, played a significant role in the bank’s ultimate demise.
As he dug deeper, a troubling pattern emerged. Silicon Valley Bank wasn’t an isolated case—it was just the beginning. From Disney’s controversial policies under Bob Chapek to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s aggressive push for ESG standards, Gasparino found that wokeness had infiltrated boardrooms across America.
Gasparino traced this trend back to the summer of 2020, when corporations reacted strongly to the George Floyd protests, exemplified by J.P. Morgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, famously taking a knee.
Through extensive interviews and research, Gasparino documented how corporations eagerly embraced woke idea, only to face harsh financial realities. His new book “Go Woke, Go Broke: The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America” offers a stark warning to CEOs who might be tempted to follow this path.
On today’s episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast,” Gasparino explains that when businesses stray from their core mission—maximizing shareholder value—it’s a losing proposition. Listen as we explore how woke ideology reshaped corporate America and what can be done about it.