Is corporate leadership becoming more politically polarized, disrupting executive teams?
Core argument: Steel and a separate team of US finance professors find that the share of companies with overwhelmingly left-leaning or right-leaning leadership teams is rising, pointing to polarisation rather than a single leftward shift.
The political transformation of the corporate world has not been a single directional shift: polarisation is also increasing. Both Steel and a separate team of US finance professors find that the share of companies with overwhelmingly left-leaning or right-leaning leadership teams is rising, leading to increased rates of disruption when political misfits leave or are pushed out. The recent splintering of Silicon Valley into an increasingly outspoken conservative venture capital industry and a still left-leaning broader tech sector appears emblematic of this wider trend.

