Jesper Brodin, the CEO of Ingka Group—better known as Ikea—is one of many CEOs who has wrestled over the last six weeks with how to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company built up a sizable business in Russia, with nearly $2 billion in annual sales last year. And the right way to respond to Putin’s invasion, Brodin told Ellen McGirt and me last week, “was not obvious.”

“I myself have been part of the generations at Ikea that for more than 20 years have been building up our business in Russia… It’s a little bit like the pandemic—there is no manual or guidebook for us here. It’s about weighing all aspects of the situation, trying to get a 360-degree perspective of the situation, and using our moral and ethical compass to do the right thing.”

The company had to consider the effects of a decision not just on its business, but on its employees, and on innocent people in Russia. In the end, it closed its Ikea stores, and discontinued furniture exports to Russia, but kept open Ingka’s shopping malls to make sure Russians continued to have access to food and pharmaceuticals. The job required balancing the needs of various stakeholders—customers, employees, global society. 

Interestingly, he said, there was little discussion of the effect on the company’s business.

“None of these scenarios is good for the business. We can take that out of the equation. There is simply no good business path… When it comes to the moral and ethical right thing to do, that goes beyond the size of your business. It’s a difficult question, I think, for all of us.”

You can listen to more on how this one company dealt with the challenge of withdrawing from Russia on Leadership Next, via Apple or Spotify.

More news below.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Markets sink

Stocks in Asia and Europe continue to sell off this morning, and U.S. futures are under pressure as well. That's as recession fears escalate just as central banks on both sides of the Atlantic grow more hawkish to put the brakes on runaway inflation. Tech stocks in particular took it on the chin yesterday, with the Nasdaq sinking 2.3%. CNBC

Russian coal ban looms

According to Liberum's commodities analysts, Russia sells more than $10 billion worth of coal annually. Its biggest customer: the European Union (by a long shot). Despite the cozy dependence, the EU is close to slapping a ban on Russian coal imports as part of the bloc's escalating sanctions against Moscow. Fortune

Editor-in-Tweet

Elon Musk, Twitter's biggest shareholder—and newest member to its board—must be pretty happy this morning. The social networking giant announced it will begin testing an edit function, a cause Musk has been championing for months. Bonus read: Trump supporters are lobbying Musk to get Donald Trump's Twitter account reinstated. Fortune

Metaverse CEO's mega-pay package

So-called metaverse stocks have been an absolute dog this year. Few have performed worse than the gaming platform Roblox, which has lost half its value so far this year, and 30% since going public in March 2021. Nonetheless, Roblox CEO and co-founder David Baszucki was awarded a cushy 2021 pay package of $232 million, joining the exclusive $200 million club. Bonus read: Why Wall Street thinks the metaverse will be worth trillions. Fortune

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

3, 2, 1... Lift off!

One of the buzziest areas of commercial aviation is the emerging market for electric flight. Think vertical-take-off-and-landing "air taxis" and fixed-wing aircraft powered by batteries and kilowatts of electricity. I spoke with Rob Watson of Rolls-Royce about the e-aviation future. It's closer than you think. Fortune

Carl Icahn turns up the gas

Fortune's Shawn Tully scored impressive access to the 86-year-old activist investor as he embarks on a proxy fight of the Las Vegas utility Southwest Gas Holdings. The stock is up 15% so far this year, but there's plenty of turmoil for the management team as Icahn builds a larger and larger position with the aim of pushing out the entire board. Fortune

Green Future Index

For the second straight year, MIT Technology Review has published its ranking of the most eco-friendly countries on the planet—those nations that are committing to "develop a sustainable, low-carbon future." Iceland, Denmark and the Netherlands lead the overall ranking as they push for policies that embrace energy transitions to renewables. The United States scores near the top in the category of "green society"—an indication that Americans and American companies are pushing for net-zero at a quicker pace than Washington. The full ranking is here: MIT Technology Review

This edition of CEO Daily was edited by Bernhard Warner.