Good morning. This is peak season for shareholder letters, in which CEOs share observations about their results, priorities and views of the trends shaping business. Most are short, bland and to the point. But Warren Buffett turned his letters into lessons on leadership (Greg Abel has now taken up the mantle at Berkshire Hathaway.) BlackRock CEO Larry Fink talked about “a deeper feeling that capitalism is working” in this year’s letter, and many eagerly await Jamie Dimon’s novella-length letter to drop soon.
In the canon of great shareholder letters, I would add the prose of Evan Greenberg, the chairman and CEO of Chubb Group. He has amassed quite a following and body of work in more than two decades at the helm (first of ACE Ltd, which later became Chubb after he acquired the insurer in 2016). He’s since built Chubb into one of the world’s most valuable property and casualty insurers, with a $126.5 billion market cap.
In his latest annual letter, he offers 25 pages of thought-provoking observations on the world between noting results like the record $10 billion in core operating income last year. “It’s personal to me,” he told me yesterday, noting that it takes him no less than three months and 15 drafts. “It’s not a writer’s turn of phrase. It reads as I speak, as I think … The subjects I pick are relevant to Chubb.”
Here are some edited reflections on the subjects he raised this year:
On China: “I’m deeply invested in it. My company is deeply invested, and it is the most important relationship in the world … I just spent a week in China, 10 days where I went to five different cities, to see new tech companies … the humility, the work ethic, the drive to innovate and create and succeed. They want to bring what they’re doing to America. Cooperation and engagement don’t mean surrender. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. The United States has so many advantages over China. Where we’re fearful is because of their scale, their size and their capability. I deeply admire the Chinese culture. I deeply admire the people. I’ll bet on them all day long. That’s different than the politics and the political construct of the country … Each picks their own.”
On AI: “The good that it can do in medicine and science, the potential it unlocks, is breathtaking. Technology is evolving but human nature has not evolved … We’re just as tribal, just as prejudiced as human beings as we’ve ever been, and we’re handing ourselves this powerful tool. We don’t even quite understand it yet so I am both optimistic and I’m concerned.”
On America: “Democracy is so fragile. Civil society is a participant sport. We are all members. I’m so sick of the dark side we find ourselves in—right and left—where we feed on the notion of denigrating who we are … I don’t know one person who comes from another country to live here and doesn’t say how privileged they feel and how lucky we are, and how much we take it for granted.”
On Leadership: “I’m the leader of a public corporation. I’m not the leader of a religious institution. I’m not the moral spokesman for the world. I’m acutely aware that I, as the CEO of Chubb, am an asset of the company … It’s an honor and a privilege to have my role, and it’s my responsibility to account to my shareholders every year for the company that they have invested in, and to explain it and to illuminate beyond the numbers … Chubb is my second greatest love. It’s all wrapped up in that when I write this letter. Every word matters to me.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at [email protected]
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Dow CEO Jim Fitterling warns petrochemical shortages from the Iran war, a conflict that’s blocking nearly 20% of global capacity via the Strait of Hormuz, will fuel inflation all year, squeezing Asia and Europe far more than U.S. producers and deepening a volatile, “two-speed” global economy.
Goldman Sachs’ job loss prediction
Goldman Sachs estimates the Iran war will suppress U.S. payroll growth by roughly 10,000 jobs per month through the end of the year. Gen Z will be hit the hardest; they record more gasoline spending than any generation and their employment is heavily concentrated in the leisure, hospitality, and retail sectors absorbing the deepest cuts.
The markets
S&P 500 futures are flat this morning. The last session closed down 1.74%. The STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.81% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.55% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.43%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.56%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.38%. South Korea’s KOSPI was down 0.40%. India’s NIFTY 50 was down 2.12% today. Bitcoin was down to $68K.
Around the watercooler
Housing giant Fannie Mae to accept crypto-backed mortgages for the first time by Carlos Garcia
30-year-old CEO of $11 billion Harvey earned the backing of OpenAI and Sam Altman. He says you have to ‘re-earn’ your role every 6 months by Preston Fore
New York is home to 154 billionaires. Together they’re worth $975.7 billion—and some of them are even making $2 million an hour by Emma Burleigh
Duolingo CEO’s taxi driver test decides who gets hired—before the interview even starts by Sydney Lake
CEO Daily is curated and edited by Joey Abrams, Claire Zillman and Lee Clifford.
