What CEOs could expect from a President Kamala Harris (2024)

Now that President Joe Biden has bowed out as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election, corporate America’s eyes are on his presumptive replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris. At the top of CEOs’ agendas is determining whether she will be unfriendly to business or govern as a true “capitalist,” as she described herself years ago.

Of course, as Biden’s vice president, Harris has inherited his administration’s record to a certain degree. And in recent months, Biden has lost much support from Big Business, notably Silicon Valley, to Republican candidate Donald Trump. Many executives have looked past Trump’s often erratic behavior and attempts to micromanage the economy to support him over Biden, drawn in by promises of new tax cuts, less regulation—particularly on environmental matters—and a crackdown on crime. One CEO told Fortune earlier this month that Biden’s energy policy, such as a ban on gas exports plants, was counterproductive, while another faulted the Biden administration’s approach to immigration.

To counter the narrative that the Biden-Harris ticket would be unfriendly to business, Harris this spring launched a charm offensive with top CEOs that could serve as a springboard as she tries to win support—financial and otherwise—as the Democratic nominee. She can tap her reputation as a centrist and as an enforcer of the law, given her past role as California attorney general. (Harris raised $50 million in the hours after Biden endorsed her as his replacement.)

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Harris has regularly met with executives, includingVisa CEO Ryan McInerney,TeneoChairwomanUrsula Burns,and formerAmerican Express CEO Ken Chenault, and had lunch withJPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, all in an effort to build her credibility with Big Business. Other business leaders whom Harris wooed this spring, according to Bloomberg, include CVS Health CEOKaren Lynch,Motorola Solutions CEOGreg Brown,and Chobani founderHamdi Ulukaya.

“The business community, especially the tech/VC community are exhilarated over this choice,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management, toldFortune via email on Sunday when news of Biden stepping down broke. Sonnenfeld cited her familiarity with Silicon Valley and what he says is her more centrist leanings toward the government’s role in the economy.

At the top of the ticket, Harris must outline her own stance toward business, untethered from being anyone’s No. 2. For signs of how Harris would engage with corporations, it’s worth examining her stint as California AG between 2011 and 2017. Here are some clues:

Kamala Harris on tech

Compared to Biden, Bay Area-native Harris has long fostered a more nuanced relationship with Silicon Valley, a major employer in her home state. As an AG candidate, Harris reportedly touted herself to donors as “a capitalist.” Once in office though, she took steps to rein in Big Tech. She sued eBayin 2012 over alleged anticompetitive hiring practices related to its no-poaching agreement with Intuit. She later pressured giants like Facebook and Google to curtail the distribution of revenge pornography on social media. Still, she has personal connections with many prominent tech executives and investors. (One of the first tech executives to tweet enthusiastically about the Harris news on Sunday was Box CEO Aaron Levie.)

Kamala Harris on the FTC

One signal Big Business will be watching closely is whether Harris intends to keep on Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan, the activist head of the anti-trust agency who’s confronted companies like Kroger, Amazon and Nvidia. CNBC commentator Jim Cramer said on Sunday that he expected Harris to replace Khan, since the vice president is “better for M&A,” a tool companies use for growth and to monetize investments. In contrast, Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance has called for a more muscular FTC, leaving Harris a window to score big points with corporate America.

Kamala Harris on oil and the environment

Harris has long touted hertough stanceon Big Oil as evidenced by the many lawsuits she filed against various companies as San Francisco district attorney from 2004 to 2011 and then as California AG. Those included one against Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips for environmental violations at their gas stations. As vice president, she has been active in promoting the policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, the bête noire of many large companies in the energy sector and beyond. Still, for all the Republican talk of Biden-Harris hostility toward Big Oil, U.S. oil production is at all-time highs, a stat that will rile environmentalists but may please some chief executives.

Kamala Harris on immigration

Harris, the daughter of economist Donald Harris and breast cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan, both immigrants, is very much pro-immigration and strongly supports the DACA program that gives a path to U.S. citizenship to many immigrants who were young when they arrived in the country. That pro-immigration stance is more in sync with Big Business, which worries about worker shortages, than Trump’s threats of mass deportations and the humanitarian chaos and economic uncertainty deportations would likely bring.

Kamala Harris on AI

On artificial intelligence, Harris has been outspoken about protecting the public from the potential dangers of AI, one of the most promising areas in tech. In March, she announced new rules requiring U.S. federal agencies to show that AItools don’t harm the public. She has firmly advocated for more protections for consumers, pointing to AI-generated scam calls and the nefarious effects of unidentified AI-generated content.

One card Harris has seems intent on playing is the relative stability the Biden-Harris administration has fostered. Many CEOs condemned the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, as well as the social upheaval during the Trump presidency. In 2017, a number of prominent CEOs exited an advisory council over then-President Trump’s reactions to white nationalists’ rally in Charlottesville, Va., that implied he sympathized with participants.

So while CEOs maybe be drawn to many Trump policies on trade and taxes, Harris offers a counter-argument that as president she could maintain the business environment of the last four years that’s been relatively stable compared to some of the tumult that marked Trump’s first presidency.

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What CEOs could expect from a President Kamala Harris (2024)

FAQs

Why is Kamala Harris important? ›

Harris served as the junior U.S. senator from California from 2017 to 2021; she defeated Loretta Sanchez in the 2016 Senate election to become the second African-American woman and the first Indian American to serve in the U.S. Senate.

What did Kamala Harris do for a job? ›

She always fights for the people – from her barrier-breaking time as District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California, to proudly serving as a United States Senator and the Vice President.

What did Kamala Harris' mother tell her? ›

What has Kamala Harris contributed to society? ›

Her career path from prosecutor to politician has been defined by many firsts: She was the nation's first Indian American senator and California's first female and South Asian attorney general. Harris is the first woman to become vice president, as well as the first Black or Asian American person to hold the office.

What is the major accomplishment of Kamala Harris? ›

Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, Black American, and South Asian American Vice President, breaking multiple barriers. She cast the most tie-breaking votes in modern history, influencing landmark legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Did Kamala Das think when she looked at her mother? ›

When the poet looked at her mother, she saw that her mother had grown old and her face looked like that of a corpse. She tried to distract herself from this realisation but the waning and pale face of her mother brought the thought of losing her mother back to her mind.

Was Kamala Harris ever married before? ›

Is Kamala Harris' husband the second husband? ›

He is married to the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. As the first husband of a vice president, Emhoff is the first second gentleman in American federal history. He is also the first Jewish spouse of an American president or vice president. New York City, U.S.

Why is Kamala Harris important to Women's History Month? ›

Kamala Harris recently made history after she was the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to be elected and inaugurated Vice President of the United States. She was born on Oct. 20, 1964, to immigrant parents in Oakland, Calif.

What is the role of the vice president? ›

Today vice presidents serve as principal advisors to the president, but from 1789 until the 1950s their primary duty was to preside over the Senate. Since the 1830s, vice presidents have occupied offices near the Senate Chamber.

Does the president choose the vice president? ›

The Vice President is elected along with the President by the Electoral College. Each elector casts one vote for President and another for Vice President.

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