Goldman Sachs’ (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein left his employees the following voicemail message on Sunday evening in response to President Trump’s decision to sign an executive order on Friday that bans travel into the U.S. by citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
In the message, Blankfein said that the executive order has the “potential for disruption to the firm.”
“This is Lloyd. The President has issued an executive order that, generally, bans individuals from seven different countries from entering the United States and freezes the broader refugee program. This is not a policy we support, and I would note that it has already been challenged in federal court, and some of the order has been enjoined at least temporarily.
“If the order were to become or remain effective, I recognize that there is potential for disruption to the firm, and especially to some of our people and their families. I want to assure all of you that we will work to minimize such disruption to the extent we can within the law and are focused on supporting our colleagues and their families who may be affected.
“Let me close by quoting from our business principles: ‘For us to be successful, our men and women must reflect the diversity of the communities and cultures in which we operate. That means we must attract, retain and motivate people from many backgrounds and perspectives. Being diverse is not optional; it is what we must be.’ Now is a fitting time to reflect on those words and the principles that underlie them.”
Trump’s decision to sign an executive order on Friday that temporarily bans individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries — Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Somalia — from entering the United States sparked protests at major airports nationwide over the weekend. The executive order also temporarily suspends refugees from entering the US. A number of CEOs, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Starbucks’ Howard Schultz, have spoken out against the travel ban.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley (MS) CEO James Gorman wrote that they value their employees from all over the world.
“We are closely monitoring developments around the new U.S. travel restrictions imposed this weekend. While no individual employees were impacted in their travel to date, we are concerned for those individuals and their families who could be impacted and will provide them support as needed,” Gorman wrote in global memo sent on Sunday afternoon.
He later added: “We value immensely the contribution of all our employees from all over the world. Continuing to draw on talent from across the globe is a key element of Morgan Stanley’s culture and ultimately to our success in serving our clients.”