This is the web version of CEO Daily. To get it delivered to your inbox, sign up here.
Good morning.
One year ago this week, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, and we went into lockdown. My last in-person meeting before closing the Fortune offices was with 3M CEO Mike Roman. 3M’s most famous product before last year was the Post-it note. But by the time we met, Roman was already dealing with a global scramble for N95 masks. The company increased its mask production four-fold during the year, producing a total of 2 billion for health care workers around the world.
Ellen McGirt and I caught up with Roman again recently, for our podcast Leadership Next, and asked how the pandemic had changed his business. “It was an awakening for us as a company,” he said. “When you are in the face of a pandemic, there are increased expectations of leadership.” Roman was one of the CEOs who signed the Business Roundtable’s 2019 statement on the purpose of the corporation, and says the stakeholder capitalism trend accelerated after the pandemic hit. “We did a lot in 2020 in response to the killing of George Floyd. It hit our 3M employees hard. We put our focus on the Twin Cities and what we could do to help.” The company also committed to eliminating carbon emissions by 2050. “Importantly, we are bending the curve early in that time frame, reducing emissions 50% by 2030, 60% by 2035, and 80% by 2040.”
Roman sees no problem asking business to address social problems. “Part of the reason I think it is important companies step up is that we do know how to solve things. We do know how to deliver on our goals. My advice is: use the same lessons and abilities you have built in business success and apply them more broadly to whatever is most important to your stakeholders—and that includes your employees. Often they are the best guideposts for those priorities.”
You can listen to the full interview on Apple or Spotify.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Bitcoin bump
Bitcoin has jumped again (to over $54,000 at the time of writing) thanks to big institutions continuing to show deeper interest in cryptocurrencies. It now has a market cap of over $1 trillion again. Ether is doing well too, after Chinese beauty app Meitu bought some. Fortune
Apple complaint
France Digitale, a lobby group representing the country's startups and VCs, is filing a complaint with the French data-protection regulator over Apple's alleged breaches of privacy rules. The group says Apple's default iOS settings allow it to conduct targeted ad campaigns without clear user consent. Reuters
Sputnik V
The Italian drugmaker Adienne has agreed to produce Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which still hasn't been approved by the European Medicines Agency, though that hasn't stopped several eastern EU states from buying it. Meanwhile, the EMA has advised EU countries from giving Sputnik V such authorizations for now, prompting the jab's Russian backers to demand an apology. Bloomberg
Double down
Countries must not let their guard down as vaccines roll out, World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has warned: "We’re at a very risky period…We need to double down, this is not the period to let up." That's because case numbers are rising again, and the vaccine rollout is still at an early stage. CNBC
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
Texas power
A Tesla subsidiary named Gambit Energy Storage is quietly building a 100 megawatt energy storage project near Houston, Texas. Could be useful for Texas's rickety power grid, while also giving a taste of the company Tesla could one day become. Fortune
Cool it
British business groups and exporters have urged the U.K.'s EU relations chief, David Frost, to stop being so abrasive in his treatment of the EU and to try to build consensus instead. Scotland Food and Drink CEO James Withers: "If the first few weeks of any relationship set the tone, there is a lot of worry about. It feels like we are already at a major crossroads. We face a relationship choice, either collaboration or disintegration. We need the diplomatic temperature to be dialed down." Financial Times
Biden hopes
U.S. businesses in China are counting on the Biden administration to stabilize relations between the two countries. The American Chamber of Commerce in China released its latest business climate survey today, and the proportion of its membership that expects improving U.S.-China relations in the coming year was up to 45% from 30% last year. Fortune
PPE scandal
Two German politicians from the conservative parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition have resigned over profiteering from mask procurement. "Such behavior is indecent, and we are ashamed," said Christian Democrats general secretary Paul Ziemiak after the two were forced out. The timing could hardly be worse, as the coalition is under intense pressure over its COVID response and this is a "super election year", with federal and several state-level elections looming in Germany. Washington Post
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.
