Trump’s chilling effect on big business, with Harvard Business Review’s Adi Ignatius

Masters of Scale

WaitWhat

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management, Reid Hoffman, Mindset, Diversity & Inclusion, Jeff Berman, Bob Safian, Startups

4.6 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After 16 years as Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review, Adi Ignatius is handing the role over to a new leader, and he joins Rapid Response for a more-than-an-exit interview. A longtime friend and colleague of host Bob Safian, Ignatius shares some of the most critical lessons he’s learned in decades of covering business and leadership, as well as dissecting the most hot button issues today — from Elon Musk’s conflicting priorities, to AI’s impact on media, and what Americans most misunderstand about China. Plus, Ignatius takes us inside Harvard’s response to Trump’s attacks, and why such stories are leaving business leaders in fear of speaking out against the government.

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Transcript

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0:42.4	Hey folks, Jeff Berman here. We are gathering the leaders who are building what's next at the
0:48.4	Masters of Scale Summit. You'll see visionaries like Chabani's Hamdi Ulukaya, restaurant tour David Chang, Patagonia's Ryan Gellert, promises Fadra Ellis Lampkins, the National Women's Soccer League's Jessica Berman. The list goes on and on.
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1:14.1	That's masters of scale.com slash apply 25.
1:20.3	Suddenly, you know, we can't criticize the government, right?
1:24.3	Because there will be a tremendous backlash.
1:27.0	And, you know, that's really sad.
1:30.4	You know, you could talk about whether CEOs speaking up on an issue,
1:33.0	whether that's a good idea or not.
1:34.6	But the idea that, well, they wouldn't dare in this climate because it's too scary.
1:39.3	You know, that's China under the Communist Party.
1:43.0	I mean, that's somehow an unintended consequence of where we are right now.
1:52.0	That's Adi Ignatius, longtime editor-in-chief of Harvard Business Review. After 16 years at the helm, Adi recently passed the
2:02.7	mantle, but today's episode is much more than an exit interview. It is an eye-opening strategic
2:08.9	examination of today's unprecedented business climate, from AI's impact to Elon Musk to the
2:15.5	evolving role of what it means to be a business leader.
2:18.8	Adi is refreshingly candid, sharing lessons and unfiltered assessments.
	...

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