Former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban blasted Elon Musk in a lengthy rebuke on social media Wednesday after the billionaire Tesla owner described corporate diversity initiatives as “racism.”
Cuban took Musk to task in a statement posted to the executive’s social media platform X on Wednesday night, hailing support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at U.S. companies.
“Good businesses look where others don’t, to find the employees that will put your business in the best possible position to succeed,” Cuban said in the series of posts. “I take it as a given that there are people of various races, ethnicities, orientation, etc, that are regularly excluded from hiring consideration,” he said, adding, “By extending our hiring search to include them, we can find people that are more qualified.”
Cuban seemingly did his homework on the topic as he spelled out the advantages of DEI policies in five long takes after Musk condemned the practice in a statement to his platform.
“Discrimination on the basis of race, which DEI does, is literally the definition of racism,” Musk wrote Tuesday.
In another post minutes earlier, Musk complained “DEI, because it discriminates on the basis of race, gender and many other factors, is not merely immoral, it is also illegal.”
After about an hour, Cuban weighed in, emphasizing the importance of diverse voices for businesses to serve a wide range of consumers from varying backgrounds. He criticized corporate executives who treated DEI priorities as a “checklist item” instead of a core principle, emphasizing the positive impact on employee productivity.
“When companies do DEI well, you see a well-run, successful company,” he said in the post.
Many corporations and institutions have worked to integrate DEI values into their operations over the last decade as brands shift their stance on recruiting to attract diverse talent.
Advocates say DEI is…
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