From Advisor Perspectives, September 13:
On September 14, 2021, at approximately 9:45amET, this article was modified to include the examples from James Damore and Sasha White.
I just had the strangest experience I’ve ever had reading a book. Before I read it, I hated Woke, Inc. with a passion. Then I read it.
On September 2, Bob Huebscher, Advisor Perspectives’ CEO and publisher, sent me a blog post by the former New York Times journalist Bari Weiss, introducing an essay by the former biotech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy. It was a preview of, or an excerpt from, Ramaswamy’s new book, Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.
I found this essay to be highly objectionable. I told Bob so. But he urged me to review the book anyway.
Having panned it so badly based on only a brief introductory essay, I felt obligated to read it. When I did, my impression was 180 degrees different – almost.
I will explain why I had such a negative impression initially later. In the end, it turns out that what incensed me was only a minor flaw in the book, though an important one in a broader sense. It does not detract much from its main message. Unfortunately, it is a flaw that is likely to be heavily used in marketing the book.
I’ll begin with what is good about the book – in fact excellent. It comprises at least 90% of the book. I’ll get to the problem later on.
Ramaswamy’s qualifications and observations
Although only 36, Ramaswamy has an impressive array of accomplishments. Born in Cleveland of Indian immigrants and raised in a small town in Ohio, he was valedictorian of his high school class, graduated from Harvard with a molecular biology degree, worked for large hedge fund companies, got a law degree at Yale and then started a pharma company, Roivant, which developed several successful pharmaceutical drugs. He stepped down in early 2021 after seven years as CEO. He is on firm ground in saying, “I know how the elite business world works—and elite academia and philanthropy too—because I’ve seen it firsthand.”....
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