Nike CEO John Donahoe says brands need to stand by their values amid DeSantis, Disney feud

As a political conflict rages betwixt Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney, Nike CEO John Donahoe said it's important for corporations to take their battles, but combat for the values integral to their brands. 

During a sit-down interrogation astatine the inaugural CNBC CEO Council Summit successful Santa Barbara, California, Monday evening, CNBC's Sara Eisen touched connected the DeSantis controversy and asked Donahoe if helium was disquieted Nike would go a target.

"Aren't you disquieted that if Ron DeSantis becomes president, he's going to spell aft you arsenic a woke corporation?" Eisen asked Donahoe astir the expected Republican statesmanlike contender. 

In response, Donahoe said companies don't request to measurement successful connected each governmental kerfuffle but should beryllium a large dependable erstwhile their brand's values are nether attack. 

"I deliberation Bob's doing a large occupation astatine this," Donahoe said of Disney CEO Bob Iger.

"If it's halfway to who you are and your values, past no, you basal up for your values," helium said. "If it's commenting connected immoderate governmental contented that's successful idiosyncratic else's backyard, past we whitethorn person that idiosyncratic feeling, but we don't remark connected it with our marque and publicly." 

Iger wasn't starring Disney when, successful February 2022, helium publically slammed Florida Republicans' arguable measure limiting schoolroom treatment of intersexual orientation, which helium and different critics person dubbed "Don't Say Gay."

His tweet the measure "will enactment vulnerable, young LGBTQ radical successful jeopardy" enactment much unit connected Disney's CEO astatine the time, Bob Chapek, to interruption his soundlessness astir the legislation.

After Disney came retired against the bill, DeSantis and his allies targeted the Orlando-area peculiar taxation territory that has allowed Walt Disney World to fundamentally self-govern its operations for decades. The clash has gone connected for much than a year, and it has continued adjacent aft Iger returned arsenic CEO successful November pursuing Chapek's ouster.

Donahoe pointed to 3 values that are integral to Nike's brand: racial and societal justice, sustainability and younker engagement successful sports, peculiarly for young girls.

When it comes to radical and societal justice, Donahoe said Nike built its marque successful concern with immoderate of the astir iconic Black and brownish athletes successful history, specified arsenic Michael Jordan, Serena Williams and LeBron James. 

"In addition, our halfway user for the Nike brand, the Jordan Brand, the converse brand, are municipality Black and brownish communities — that's wherever sneaker civilization started," Donahoe explained. "And so, we perceive to our athletes and to our user astir what they attraction astir and they attraction astir radical and societal justness and truthful we presumption that arsenic halfway to who we are, halfway to our individuality … truthful it gives america a small much courageousness to talk out." 

The institution has focused connected younker engagement successful sports arsenic young girls are dropping retired of athletics astatine "an alarming rate," Donahoe said.

"Turns retired 1 of the biggest reasons girls driblet retired is they don't person pistillate coaches erstwhile they deed puberty," said Donahoe. "So, we're trying to bid 20,000 pistillate coaches, moms and different erstwhile athletes to beryllium coaches to beforehand youth. So that's little of a arguable issue, but it's 1 we attraction astir arsenic a value." 

On sustainability, Donahoe said arsenic "the leader" successful the industry, Nike indispensable acceptable an illustration for alteration due to the fact that if it doesn't, "it won't happen."