Activism in the Language and Rhetoric of CEO Letters to Other CEOs

Understanding the communications of powerful business leaders is important given the social control they can exercise. This paper uses a close reading approach, augmented by tone analysis and keyword analysis, to explore the language of activism in 10 annual letters to other CEOs, written by Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest managed investment fund, BlackRock. These letters conveyed the urgings of a powerful CEO to promote an activist agenda that prioritised concerns for environmental, social and governance matters over the pursuit of profits. We enhance understanding of the language and rhetoric of the written communication of a powerful business leader.