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Good morning.
It is impossible to be a citizen of the world and not ache at the devastation wrought by COVID-19. As I write this, Johns Hopkins is tracking more than 2 million confirmed cases across the globe and 137,000 deaths—of which 31,000 are in the U.S.
While health concerns are paramount at the moment, the pandemic’s effects on business are also part of the human toll. Fortune has covered the pain and disruption to business and society extensively. We’ve also felt the pain ourselves. This week, I had to lay off some of our valued colleagues and friends, as the nationwide lockdown has impacted our business.
Readers of this newsletter know I’m a passionate advocate of business efforts to focus more directly on social impact. That made my decisions this week particularly painful. Laying off workers, particularly at a time when unemployment is spiking, clearly isn’t good for those individuals, their families, our organization, or society as a whole.
The crisis, though, also has made me recommit to the goals of stakeholder capitalism. At Fortune, that means doubling down on our relentless focus on making business better. With that in mind, we’ll keep publishing our award-winning journalism—which shines a spotlight on the good and bad of business, and illuminates the complex challenges companies face. We’ll keep convening leaders—though those gatherings will move to virtual for the time being, and include more virtual elements in the years to come. And in everything we do, we’ll aim to inform, educate, and connect business leaders everywhere, so they can better anticipate the changes ahead and share learnings and best practices for leading through tumult.
In times of disruption—whether that disruption is driven by a pandemic or a technology revolution—Fortune will strive to light the way forward.
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More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Testing needed
Business executives have reportedly told President Trump that the public won't be confident enough to return to work or resume regular consumption activities until his administration drastically increases coronavirus testing. The executives came from the banking, financial services, hospitality, food and beverage, and retail sectors. Wall Street Journal
German strategy
Germany will allow small shops to reopen from Monday, along with larger car dealerships and book shops. Schools will start to reopen from May 4 (though not daycare facilities). Chancellor Angela Merkel says the lifting of restrictions requires "extreme caution" as Germany is "walking on thin ice." The country uses extensive testing and has maintained a very low death rate, compared with other western European countries—but its case rate is climbing again. CNBC
Shell greening
Royal Dutch Shell has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050—that means net zero emissions from its own activities, rather than the use of its products. The oil giant had previously aimed to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2050, and 20% by 2035, but now it's targeting 65% by 2050 and around 30% by 2035. CEO Ben van Beurden: "Society's expectations have shifted quickly in the debate around climate change. Shell now needs to go further with our own ambitions." Barron's
iPhone SE
Apple has launched a new "low-cost" iPhone SE, which is essentially an iPhone 8 with a better camera and processor. The release of the $399 device (for the base specification) should provide a good indication of consumer demand for new smartphones at this moment. The Verge
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
Unemployment chart
If you'd like a graphic representation of how coronavirus layoffs are affecting total unemployment figures by sector, here's one based on Goldman Sachs projections. As you might expect, the retail and leisure and hospitality sectors dominate. Fortune
Coronavirus bargains
Gulf sovereign wealth funds are hunting for bargains—assets whose valuations are depressed by the crisis. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has apparently already made a bunch of big investment in recent weeks, including cruise ship operator Carnival, English football club Newcastle United, and oil producers such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Repsol, Equinor and Eni. Financial Times
Tracing privacy
Privacy advocates are worried about the implications of companies such as Google and Facebook getting into the coronavirus-tracking game. For now, those fears seem to be ill-founded, as the collection of people's location data will be explicitly opt-in. But that doesn't mean privacy advocates should let their guard down, as it may not be so easy to roll back surveillance measures. Fortune
Chinese nukes
Tired of worrying about coronavirus? Here's something else to worry about instead: the State Department is apparently about to issue a report that says China may be secretly conducting nuclear tests, despite its insistence that it is adhering to an international ban on such tests. Wall Street Journal
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.
