Kenneth Frazier on Charlottesville
From International Executive of the Year 2022: Kenneth C. Frazier · · Executives' Club of Chicago
“I went down to the White House three times and by coincidence I was the one sitting next to president Trump every time right the picture I'm right next to him so I'm very visibly aligned with the president's Business Council I said we need a noisy withdrawal here people need to know what my principles are I called my board after I decided to step down I wrote a statement and I sent it to the board and I said the only question I'm asking you I'm not asking your permission to step down I'm gone okay the question is should I say I am doing this as a matter of personal conscience or should I say I'm doing it based on my personal conscience and on the company's values and I'm thrilled to say that unanimously they said we want you to speak to the company's values.”
On , Kenneth Frazier, Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Merck & Co., spoke about Charlottesville during International Executive of the Year 2022: Kenneth C. Frazier on Executives' Club of Chicago.
About Kenneth Frazier
Kenneth Frazier, former chairman and CEO of Merck, has spoken extensively about corporate leadership, racial equity, and the importance of taking public stands on social issues. In 2022, he was recognized as International Executive of the Year by the Executives' Club of Chicago. Frazier has described his decision to resign from President Trump's business council after the 2017 Charlottesville comments, stating that he felt an obligation to stand up against what he called "intolerance and extremism." He said his board unanimously supported him speaking to the company's values rather than as an individual. Frazier has also discussed the OneTen initiative, a coalition of companies committed to hiring one million Black Americans without four-year degrees over ten years, describing it as a way to create "family sustaining wages" by making jobs skills-based rather than credentials-based. Frazier has been outspoken about voting rights, noting that he helped organize a full-page ad signed by about 700 business leaders opposing what he described as undue interference with voting. He has said that "it's a mistake for corporations to take democracy for granted" and that companies should insist on "everyone who's an eligible voter having a fair and equitable opportunity to cast their vote." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Frazier emphasized the need for broad, equitable access to vaccines, stating that "unless all of us are safe none of us are safe." He has also criticized what he called "vaccine nationalism" and urged transparency in vaccine development, saying that pauses in clinical trials should reassure the public that safety systems are working.