A Country Is Not a Business, a CEO Is Not a Democratic Leader

When I was a child, my father used to tell me, "It’s better to have a businessman as our mayor, governor, or president. They don’t steal because they already have a lot of money." But reality is different. Without generalizing, those who have accumulated great wealth—whether through a successful business venture or by inheriting a family business—rarely settle. They always want more.

If you already own a business, why spend time in politics for the "common good"? There are two possible reasons: one, because you want to leverage political power to benefit your business; and two, because you genuinely care about the well-being of others. Sorry, but I don’t believe in the second one.

It’s undeniable that many see politics as a shortcut to power, influence, and wealth. I highly doubt that most truly want to make a difference. I’m skeptical. Take Elon Musk, for example—he hasn’t set aside his businesses, especially Tesla, to work for the greater good. On the contrary, he has used his power to weaken governments, remove regulations that affect his businesses, and promote nationalism to block foreign competitors. He may be the richest man in the world, but he still wants more.

Now, the idea of a businessman running a country doesn’t convince me. Does that mean the country should be managed like a corporation? Bad idea. In a company, if you don’t have a certain level of education, if you’re sick, or if you have a disability, you’ll have a hard time getting hired. In a company, you can lose your job just for rubbing your boss the wrong way. In a cutthroat corporate culture, everyone fights against everyone else to survive. Is that how we want to live as a society?

Even worse, a company is a dictatorship. CEOs act like dictators: they give orders, and employees must obey. It’s no coincidence that, in today’s culture, CEOs are idolized at the same level as authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, or Nicolás Maduro.

Furthermore, a CEO doesn’t always reach the top through merit. Sometimes it’s about connections, favors, or simply being the owner’s son. Is that the kind of person we want leading a country? No. I strongly oppose the idea of running a nation like a corporation and allowing an oligarchy to seize power as if it were a corporate takeover.

The United States will suffer the consequences of electing a businessman as its leader—and even worse, of granting near-unlimited power to the richest man in the world, allowing him to become a shadow government. The irony is striking: conspiracy theorists have spent years warning about George Soros’ alleged manipulations or the Deep State, yet Elon Musk, with hundreds of billions more, has built his own version of a Deep State—unregulated and operating in the shadow of Trump’s government.

In corporations, CEOs are rarely women. They also don’t have term limits. If we normalize the idea that a country should be run like a business, we might end up with a president who clings to power for 10 or 20 years.

During the pandemic, corporations lost influence—public health became a priority, and remote work changed the rules of the game. For many CEOs accustomed to micromanagement, this was an insult. So much so that, once the pandemic ended, they decided to erase any trace of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In other words, they sought to eliminate empathy. Elon Musk has openly expressed his disdain for empathy. It’s no coincidence that he and other business leaders have worked to establish themselves as the elite controlling power from the shadows—precisely to dismantle any policy that prioritizes collective well-being.

A country is not a business. A businessman should not govern a nation.