Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) chief executive officer Alex Gorsky was initially chastised last week for deciding to stay on President Trump’s manufacturing advisory council, before reversing course just as Trump announced the panel would be dissolved after a series of defections.
A trio of internal memos sent to J&J employees, reviewed by STAT, offer some insight into Gorsky’s reasoning.
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The adage is if you want to join the club you have to pay your dues, even if it pisses off a few shareholders. Frazier and Gorsky have lost their seats at the adult table even if the councils have been dissolved.
I am puzzled by the last sentence of this article. The whole article is about the J and J CEO’s thought process as events unfolded. The article answers the question in the last sentence. The answer to that question is essentially why the article was written.
Hi TJ,
Thanks for the note. I was attempting to offer my own thought – if Frazier could take a stand after Trump’s initial remarks, why couldn’t Gorsky?
Yes, Gorsky did attempt to address that in his memos/blog posts, but I also think he danced around that issue.
In short, I think Gorsky – and all of the council members – should have resigned sooner, and I was addressing the question to readers. Maybe others agree that his answers didn’t cut it. I was simply trying to prompt some thought.
Regards
ed at pharmalot