What do you do when your business disappears overnight?

Good morning.

What do you do when your business disappears overnight? That’s what happened to Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian in April, when the pandemic cut the hotel company’s global business by 94%. “A shocking loss of demand,” he said.  “We had never been in anything quite like it.”

Hoplamazian was my guest this week on the podcast Leadership Next (Apple/Spotify). I was eager to talk with him because he’s always struck me as a leader with a strong focus on Hyatt’s corporate purpose, which is rooted in empathy—caring for employees so in turn they care for hotel guests. How do you care for employees when you no longer have the means to do so?

“There is no question that this has been the most difficult and most challenging period of time I’ve ever experienced, as a person,” he said. “The business was unrecognizable. The steps we had to take to manage through it were very painful. There was a very human impact that was devastating.”

Yet Hoplamazian said he has “been so incredibly humbled by the outpouring of appreciation and care that I’ve felt from those who are being impacted…It was incredible testimony to the deep humanity that exists within this company.” He hopes increased empathy may be a broader legacy of the crisis. “Now when people ask ‘How are you doing,’ they really mean it. That sense of care and real focus and attention is extraordinarily powerful, and I hope that stays with us forever.”

Hoplamazian is confident that travel will eventually return to pre-pandemic levels… and beyond. “Long term, I am 100% sure that we are going to see a massive resurgence in travel, because there is this incredible impulse to want to connect and be with people, on a personal level and on a business level. Once we have a vaccine, I think we are going to see a resurgence of demand the likes of which we haven’t seen before.”

More news below.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

McDonald's vs Easterbrook

McDonald's has taken the unusual step of suing its former CEO, Steve Easterbrook, which it accuses of lying, concealing evidence, and fraud. The suit alleges Easterbrook, who was sacked eight months ago for sexting with a subordinate, actually conducted sexual relationships with three employees, one of whom he gave shares. New York Times

Tech vs Trump

Big Tech–Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, Netflix–filed an amicus brief yesterday in an effort to overturn the U.S.'s temporary ban on H-1B and other visas. The brief read: "The suspension of these vital non-immigrant visa programs will stifle innovation, hinder growth, and ultimately harm U.S. workers, businesses, and the economy more broadly in irreparable ways." Fortune

Gig economy

Uber and Lyft will have to reclassify their Californian drivers as employees, unless they succeed in their appeal against a Monday court injunction. California Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman: "It's this simple. Defendants’ drivers do not perform work that is ‘outside the usual course’ of their business. Defendants’ insistence that their businesses are ‘multi-sided platforms’ rather than transportation companies is flatly inconsistent with the statutory provisions that govern their businesses as transportation network companies, which are defined as companies that ‘engage in the transportation of persons by motor vehicle for compensation.’" The Verge

COVID carriers

President Trump is reportedly considering blocking U.S. citizens and permanent residents from entering the country if they are suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus. The American Civil Liberties Union says such a move would be unconstitutional. Reuters

AROUND THE WATER COOLER

Vaccine push

Even in the very-best-case scenario, it would take until well into 2021 for a coronavirus vaccine to reach most of the American public. That's according to interviews and remarks from top specialists, including Anthony Fauci. And of course, that's assuming success in developing such a vaccine this year. Also check out Jeremy Kahn's deep report into AstraZeneca's vaccine-development efforts. Fortune

Brain drain

Many Black American professionals move abroad and stay there. Why? As one executive, Shaundra Clay, told Fortune's Beth Kowitt: "You’re an American, you’re not African-American...You are not made to feel like you are carrying the burden of anything. You are carrying the power of something." Kowitt writes that many of her interviewees "said they had not realized how heavily the stress of being Black in America weighed on them until they left. Even when they faced bias abroad, they never feared for their lives or their children’s the way they did in the U.S." Fortune

Trump's orders

There's a big legal debate over the pandemic-relief executive orders President Trump signed Saturday. So, can he create a $400 weekly federal unemployment benefit without Congress's approval? Fortune's Jeff John Roberts explains: "While a handful of other legal scholars, such as Josh Blackman, read Trump's move as constitutional, they are a minority view. Most commentators, including the Wall Street Journal's editorial board—a vocal supporter of the President—view the plan to pay $400 as outside the law." Fortune

Say cheese

The U.K.'s trade secretary has put a new roadblock in front of an already-agreed trade deal between her country and Japan, in the form of…blue cheese. Liz Truss, a noted British-cheese advocate, is insisting that the trade deal boost sales of Stilton cheese in Japan—a characteristic that would apparently provide a symbolic advantage over the deal the U.K. already had with Japan as part of the EU. Financial Times

This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.