Go Woke Go Broke: The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America

A riveting and smashmouth journalistic deep-dive into the progressive madness that has infected and corrupted the world's biggest corporations, threatening the stability of the global economy-and life as we know it.

Intimidated by activists on the left, virtually every major corporation in America has embraced woke politics. For years, these businesses could get away with progressive virtual signaling without worrying about alienating customers. But things have changed. As high-profile backlashes at companies like Anheuser-Busch, Disney, and Target show us, customers are fighting back. Companies who cave to the demands of left-wing social justice activists are being punished like never before.

In Go Woke, Go Broke, New York Times bestselling author and veteran Fox Business financial journalist Charles Gasparino takes readers inside these disastrous corporate backlashes. A respected financial reporter who has covered finance for more than 30 years, Gasparino is deeply sourced and has dug into countless episodes involving Wall Street greed, corporate hubris, and government overreach in enterprise. Gasparino traces the origins of ESG and "stakeholder investing" and takes readers along on a ride as he shines a light on Fortune 500 companies that have suffered financially for caving to the silly and irresponsible demands of social justice activists and left-wing interests.

This explosive, in-depth investigation into the seminal players, institutions, and forces of the markets shows that, for the sake of global stability, we must immediately pry the clenched fists of radical activists off the levers of the economy.

About the Author

Charles Gasparino is a Fox Business Network senior correspondent and New York Post columnist who has covered business for CNBC, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of five books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Sellout, which chronicled the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.

Reviews

"Long before I even knew what 'woke' was, Charlie Gasparino was reporting on a strange leftward lurch among businesses that had nothing to do with making money, but everything to do with making a political statement. I figured it would pass, but there was Charlie pestering me about this movement morphing into something else—a mob, a woke mob, and a very costly mob at that. He details in these pages how it spread, but offers a timely warning it is not entirely slain. Be warned, the fight has changed. But leave it to the best business journalist on the planet to remind us all ... the fight is far from over." —Neil Cavuto, Fox News

"Go Woke, Go Broke is the definitive history of corporate America's failed experiment with woke politics. It offers a stark warning to every business leader considering putting politics ahead of profits and activism ahead of shareholders. Go Woke, Go Broke is woke capitalism's epitaph. Everyone should read it." —Bernie Marcus, co-founder, The Home Depot and philanthropist

"For those of us who lamented that Tom Wolfe did not live long enough to apply his social x-ray to the new strain of radical chic known as 'woke capitalism, ' thank God we have Charlie Gasparino. The chapter on the Goldman Sachs Chick-fil-A moral panic is not to be missed. Want to understand why billionaires started talking like grievance studies majors in the dorms or liberal arts colleges? Read Go Woke, Go Broke." —Jerry Bowyer, economist and author of The Maker Versus the Takers

"In this bold new work of investigative excellence, Charles Gasparino breaks the spell of corporate 'wokeness' by exposing the rot of left-wing agitprop that prevails in boardrooms across the nation. Playing the victim has become an act of aggression to coerce business leaders into supporting the agenda of extreme progressivism—sacrificing returns to shareholders along the way. Innovation and meritocracy, efficiency and effectiveness, must regain their primacy if corporate America is to reaffirm the qualities that encourage hard work and achievement." —Judy Shelton, senior fellow, Independent Institute