Mark Cuban schools other billionaires on why DEI is a good thing
Elon Musk took to X to call DEI "another word for racism," prompting the billionaire businessman and investor to share the significance of the organizational frameworks.
Mark Cuban is not one of the billionaires who believe that attempts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion are racist.
After Elon Musk opined on X Wednesday that DEI is merely another term for racism, the longtime businessman, “Shark Tank” panelist and former Dallas Mavericks owner briefed the Tesla Motors CEO on the significance of the organizational frameworks, according to Vanity Fair.
“Good businesses look where others don’t, to find the employees that will put your business in the best possible position to succeed,” Cuban wrote in response to Musk’s assertion. “You may not agree, but I take it as a given that there are people of various races, ethnicities, orientation, etc that are regularly excluded from hiring consideration.”
Musk’s remarks on Wednesday came in response to fellow billionaire Bill Ackman’s 4,000-word screed about DEI and its connection to Claudine Gay, who announced her resignation as president of Harvard University a day before.
“DEI is just another word for racism,” Musk posted, retweeting Ackman’s Jan. 2 missive. “Shame on anyone who uses it.”
The X owner also hopped on the platform last month to write: “DEI must DIE,” VF reported.
Ackman claimed in his initial post that DEI initiatives are “racist” and expressed concern about “reverse racism” and “racism against white people,” decrying DEI as “a powerful movement that has not only pervaded Harvard, but the educational system at large” that needs to be stopped.
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Gay submitted her resignation on Tuesday — setting a record for the shortest-lived presidency at the Ivy League Institution — after weeks of controversy surrounding plagiarism allegations and her handling of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus.
Ackman, a Harvard alum, spearheaded an effort to oust Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, citing concerns about the university’s DEI efforts during the presidential search. He alleged that Gay’s race was a driving force behind her hiring.
Cuban shrugged off the other magnates’ efforts in his message to Musk on X.
“By extending our hiring search to include them, we can find people that are more qualified,” Cuban noted, VF shared. “The loss of DEI-Phobic companies is my gain.”
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