Customers Vote With Their Cash

As consumers become more aware of how their spending habits impact social issues, there’s a growing sense that customers are using their power with measurable impact.

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson may have crossed a line when he casually suggested that white supremacy is “actually not a real problem in America,” and that the idea it is a problem is “a hoax” and “conspiracy theory used to divide the country.” Advertisers including Nestle and HelloFresh pulled out of his show, and he departed on a previously unannounced “vacation.”

At the same time, Stephen Ross, the founder-chairman of SoulCycle and Equinox’s parent company, hosted a large fundraiser for President Trump, causing a defection of long-time members. The CEO of SoulCycle published a hurried response, trying to distance the chain from Ross’ political statements, but it didn’t seem to stem the tide.

But perhaps most surprising was a notably secretive Wall Street private equity player who has been somewhat mysteriously buying up many of the brands and companies in the weapons industry.

Stephen Feinberg, a Princeton alum and Drexel Burnham Lambert banker, in 1992 founded Cerberus Capital. The private equity firm has flown mostly under the radar, other than its purchase of Chrysler back in in 2007. The investment paid off when the U.S. government bailed out the…