A Vibe Shift at Davos

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s C.E.O., will soon be making his way to Washington, where the company is planning to host its first-ever inauguration party on Sunday, along with X and The Free Press.

Days later, Khosrowshahi is expected to travel to Davos, Switzerland, for the 54th World Economic Forum — an event that has, in recent years, been a platform for making exactly the kinds of corporate promises that Trump has railed against, including commitments to E.S.G., D.E.I. and globalism.

Khosrowshahi’s itinerary symbolizes a stark shift in corporate America. While many C.E.O.s once distanced themselves from Trump, they are now embracing him. And after years of trumpeting a softer form of capitalism, they are once again zeroing in on the bottom line.

“All other issues have given way to no-nonsense conversations on geopolitics, the economy and how to contend with a rapidly changing world,” Alexander Geiser, the chief executive of the advisory firm FGS Global, told DealBook.

Despite the overlap with Inauguration Day, Davos is expecting a familiar crew. DealBook hears David Solomon of Goldman is arriving on Wednesday, after attending inauguration events in D.C. over the weekend. Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone will leave for Davos on Monday after an inauguration event on Sunday. The Coca-Cola C.E.O. James Quincy will be at Davos, too, fresh off gifting Trump a personalized Diet Coke at Mar-a-Lago.

But while the crowd is the same, the conversation has changed. Here’s how.

E.S.G.: Davos has become a choice venue for splashy climate announcements. In 2020, Marc Benioff of Salesforce rolled out a goal to plant one trillion trees. The same year, Larry Fink of BlackRock headed to Davos shortly after announcing a series of climate-focused initiatives. Fink has since expressed regret over becoming the face of E.S.G. — and a target of the backlash that followed.