Big Businesses that Love Ayn Rand

Kate
12 minutes ago
9 min read

Businesses cannot separate themselves from politics, but some lean into a political purpose more than others. Actions such as hosting a politician’s campaign event or donating to a charity inherently reflect a political stance, but some founders and CEOs build a political philosophy into their foundation. Below is a short list of businesses whose founder, CEOs, or other leadership have expressed love for Ayn Rand.

Businesses that Love Ayn Rand

(1) Lululemon

"Lululemon Diaries: My Life in an Exploitative Libertarian Happiness Cult" by Anonymous for Jezebel is one of their best articles. It's a quick read, but the short summary is that even after the CEO and founder Chip Wilson left, the Objectivist philosophy was still present in the company and still created a toxic workplace. Lululemon sells yoga-focused activewear. Wilson openly credited Rand’s writings, particularly Atlas Shrugged, as a source of inspiration for his business principles. He viewed Rand’s ideas as a framework for fostering a corporate culture focused on individual effort.

Ayn Rand’s books are in our “core library,” and you can’t escape that pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mindset. When a customer comes in and is rude to you, it’s your choice to be offended. It’s you not taking personal responsibility for the situation. If you point out something wrong or unethical, it’s labeled as your choice to complain. ... I had a guest spit on me once, and when I got upset and went into the back my manager told me it was my “choice” to be upset.

One of the more insidious things discussed in that article is the culture around over-working but over-time pay not being allowed, so lots of workers are doing unpaid labor. Even after a class-action, this practice still continues under the table. If an employee offers criticism or comment, they're told they're not being positive enough and hurting the "happiness metric" of the company.

During Wilson's time at Lulelemon they printed shopping bags with the phrase "Who is John Galt?" from Ayn Rand's book, Atlas Shrugged. The company blog said Wilson was inspired by Atlas Shrugged to “elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness" (link). Other Objectivist concepts supported by Wilson include a focus on personal responsibility and rejection of welfare. Wilson's obsession that everything is based on personal action, including whether you get sick or not, can be seen in his choices to not have maternity leave beyond what's required by law and to structure employee hours to avoid federal regulations (see above Jezebel article).

The worst part of Chip Wilson is he named the company that because "he thinks Japanese people can't say the letter 'L.'" and thinks "It's funny to watch them try and say it" (Business Insider).

(2) Uber

Travis Kalanick was the founder and original CEO of Uber who was a proud fan of Ayn Rand. Kalanick frequently cited The Fountainhead as a personal favorite, famously using the novel as his avatar on Twitter. Allyn Baum writes that "Few companies have been as closely identified with Rand’s philosophy as Uber."

In The Fountainhead, the sole female main character has no dimension other than as an object in relation to men. She is assaulted by the main character and Rand frames it as a gift because without a man, Dominque lacks any self-determination. Rand was openly hostile to the feminist movement and declared that she would not vote for a woman for president (JSTOR). Rand was also hostile to social justice movements, such as Native American rights (1ct). Sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and other forms of discrimination were rampant at Uber under Kalanick's tenure. According to Super Pumped: the Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac, Kalanick had direct control over the culture of sexual harassment, actively protecting his favored employees from consequences. He also made comments that he didn't believe a customer who had been assaulted by an Uber driver and accessed her medical files. The dismissal of a woman's sexual assault experience and thinking of women as separate and lesser than the "Objectivist man" is baked into Rand's work.

The executive chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute walked back Kalanick's association with them, saying "I don’t think Travis Kalanick ever claimed to be an Objectivist. He said The Fountainhead was his favorite book."

Uber continues without Kalanick, who runs his own venture fund, but the whistleblower about the sexual harassment at Uber was harassed out of the industry.

(3) Roark Capital Group & CKE Restaurants

Roark Capital Group is a private equity firm that owns CKE Restaurants (Carl's Jr. and Hardee's), The Cheesecake Factory, Anytime Fitness, Massage Envy, Orangetheory Fitness, and Subway. "The firm claims that its name is not meant to connote any particular political philosophy but instead signify the firm's admiration for the iconoclastic qualities of independence and self-assurance embodied by the central figure in The Fountainhead" (link 1 and link 2). Which is an interesting choice when The Fountainhead involves sexual assault and women are written like props.

The former CEO of CKE Restaurants during the buy-out by Roark CG was Andrew Franklin Puzder who "is described by friends as an avid Ayn Rand reader" (NYT). "Puzder, who opposes increases in the minimum wage and wants to automate fast food jobs, was quoted just last month saying that he encouraged his six children to read “Fountainhead” first and “Atlas Shrugged” later" (USW). During President Trump's first term, Mr. Puzder was his first nominee for Secretary of Labor before withdrawing for lack of votes, related to allegations that his restaurant companies mistreated workers, abused his first wife, and promulgated sexist advertising.

(4) Whole Foods

John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods, is a vocal Libertarian. He has argued for "conscious capitalism", that businesses don't have to be ruthless to be successful, while also arguing against labor unions, against welfare, such as any form of public healthcare, and against climate change. I'm not sure what "better" world he's created with Whole Foods if he is against his employees having any form of help with healthcare costs.

"The Whole Foods founder and chief executive John Mackey, an ardent libertarian and admirer of Rand, last month had to cede control of the troubled upscale grocery company to Amazon and Jeff Bezos (who, while often likened to a fictional Rand hero, has not mentioned her books when asked about his favorites)." - New York Times

During his final year associated with Whole Foods in 2022, Mackey made statements like "socialists are taking over" the USA while he enjoyed time in his massive ranch in Texas (Washington Examiner).

(5) Palantir Technologies

The Ayn Rand Institute has cited Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, indicating his engagement with Rand's philosophy (cite). Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, is known for his admiration of Ayn Rand's philosophy, particularly her emphasis on individualism (link). Thiel has expressed Rand's "The Fountainhead" was significantly influential in his youth (link). In the book he co-authored with Blake Masters, they state "we need individual founders in all their peculiarity does not mean that we are called to worship Ayn Randian “prime movers” who claim to be independent of everybody around them ... There is no Galt’s Gulch. There is no secession from society" (Zero to One). However, for a time period Thiel did try to secede from society with his seasteading obsession. Now however, he has turned to American politics. He shares many of Rand's feelings on civil rights.

Palantir Technologies is a software analytics company that is focused on personal information. They like to advertise they're useful for military intelligence, including for the Israel Defense Forces actions in Gaza (link). It was intended to be used in financial firms to spot fraud, but ends up being turned on it's own employees. "A staffer wielding those tools lamented that: “The world changed when it became clear everyone could be targeted using Palantir... everyone’s a suspect, so we monitored everything. It was a pretty terrible feeling" (cite). As mentioned in the Behind the Bastards episode on this topic, these spyware are often used by men to stalk women. The internal disorder that happens when a company starts to use Palantir as they internal spying sows distrust and only-out-for-yourself attitudes, reminds me of the disorder caused by Eddie Lampert's application of Randian principles as Sears.

(6) ESL Investments

ESL Investments is a public equity and hedge fund investment firm that was founded by Edward Scott Lampert in 1988, famous for investing in Kmart and Sears, leading to large losses. Lampert manages the fund with a contrarian investing approach (Business Insider). Contrarian investing and Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism share a foundational ethos of individualism and antagonism towards society. Contrarian investment can sometimes make a windfall (see George Soros currency shorts) but it also a good way to loose money as sometimes, general sentiment is right (see the Behind the Bastards podcast about Peter Thiel leaving money on the table concering PayPal, Uber, 08 crash, and Covid pandemic). In 2006, Eddie Lampert's hedge fund was worth about $15 billion and in 2011 has dropped to $6 billion (cite). The fall wasn't just because of contrarian investment, it was also because his buy and hold strategy didn't work in the recession and his Randian management style hurt his investments.

Productive work is the central purpose of a rational man’s life (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged). I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism (Ayn Rand, “The Objectivist”).

Lampert thought a “buy-and-hold approach would build value” (cite). However, this did not come to pass with his Randian management style and the recession. There was no value added to "skeletons" of these large stores while Lampert pursued becoming the first hedge fund manager to become a billionaire. Rand talks a lot about productive work in her books, but when it comes to economic philosophy, her main writings are all that selfishness is the best strategy. One could argue that Lampert's pursuit of immense wealth isn't actually productive compared to Rand's own heroes who build skyscrapers and other engineering marvels. Instead, Lampert's pursuit lead to the closing of many business and abandoned buildings.

Lampert, as "tried to run businesses based on narrow Randian principles, in which general managers engaged in a brutal internal competition for resources and bonuses. Lampert's results at Sears and KMart, now teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, raise serious questions about a hyper-aggressive, do-what's-best-for-me workplace culture" (cite). For instance, "Lampert broke the company into more than 30 individual units, each with its own management and each measured separately for profit and loss. The idea was to promote competition among the units, which Lampert assumed would lead to higher profits. ... Instead, the divisions turned against each other" (cite). The executives "began to focus solely on the economic performance of their unit at the expense of the overall Sears brand." (cite).

Sears became a miserable place to work, rife with infighting and screaming matches. Employees, focused solely on making money in their own unit, ceased to have any loyalty to the company or stake in its survival.

"What Lampert failed to see is that humans actually have a natural inclination to work for the mutual benefit of an organization. They like to cooperate and collaborate, and they often work more productively when they have shared goals. Take all of that away and you create a company that will destroy itself." (cite). Further reading: "Ayn Rand killed Sears" by Lynn Stuary Parramore.

(7) BB&T Corporation

John A. Allison IV was CEO of BB&T Corporation which has since merged with SunTrust to form the national Trust Bank. Allison is active with the Cato Institute, a libertarian lobby group, and devotee of Objectivism. He's a perfect foil to Eddie Lampert as BB&T grew astronomically, didn't loose billions of dollars under his tenure, and donated millions of dollars to Ayn Rand causes. Allison writes in The Leadership Crisis and the Free Market, that "in reality there are only concrete individuals. Groups are abstractions. There is no such thing as the proletariat ... It is critical to understand that the common good (or the public interest) is an indefinable concept." Allison assigned Rand's Atlas Shrugged to all of his senior executives (cite).

Yaron Brook, executive chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute "complained that Rand’s critics are quick to point to her followers’ failures, but rarely mention their successes" (cite). He mentions John A. Allison IV as a shining example. Allison also flatters Brook by citing him in his own book. Well, y'all, I'm mentioning him in this list with the full acknowledgment that "BB&T was one of three major U.S. regional banks that remained profitable throughout the entire financial crisis and recession, and one of the first to repay its 2008 U.S. government bailout last summer." However, I think one must point out that as much as Allison said the bailouts were anti-individualist nightmare, he still too the money. Some followers of Ayn Rand refuse government 'handouts' on principle, but not Mr. Allison (cite).

(8) Omaha Steaks

Omaha Steaks is a food retailer that has some physical stores but is mostly known for their mail-order business. While their Wikipedia page makes no mention of Ayn Rand, their mailers include in large cursive the return address of 10909 John Galt Boulevard, Omaha NE 68137. John Galt is the main character of Rand's most famous book, Atlas Shrugged.

I found a dubious blog article that said the name was chosen by Ron Abboud, the real estate broker who helped build the Omaha Steaks headquarters. Other large corporations such as Disney or Mattel certainly wouldn't have let the real estate broker choose such a name that could be politically divisive. To leave the name as their address is an endorsement.

Honorable Mention - John Galt Solutions

This software company isn't a "big business" but I'd like to include it on this list because of this interview from The Observer. The VP of Sales said he'll meet clients who think John Galt is a real person and consider it a social slight they've refused a meeting with the founder, sometimes asking "Where is John Galt?", which I found hilarious as the first sentence of Atlas Shrugged is “Who is John Galt?”