Billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Cuban got into a social media spat this week over the controversial race-based hiring practice adopted by numerous companies and institutions known as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
The argument began Wednesday when Cuban, the former owner of the Dallas Mavericks, took exception to Musk’s definition of DEI after the X owner said, “DEI is just another word for racism,” adding that it discriminates “on the basis of race,” which “is literally the definition of racism.”
Cuban responded to Musk’s comment in a lengthy post on X, attempting to defend DEI in hiring practices. In his post, Cuban argued that diversity, equity, and inclusion are all good goals for companies to pursue, writing, “Having a workforce that is diverse and representative of your stakeholders is good for business.” He added, “Equity is a core principle of business. Put your employees in a position to succeed.” Cuban then gave his defense for companies focusing on equity.
“Great companies create environments that reduce unnecessary stress of their employees (I’m not talking hitting quota or getting the product out the door stress), which in turn increases productivity. This is what inclusion is all about,” Cuban wrote. “Making all employees, no matter who they are or how they see themselves, feel comfortable in their environment and able to do their jobs.”
Musk replied to Cuban’s post on Thursday, writing, “Cool, so when should we expect to see a short white/Asian women [sic] on the Mavs?”
Cool, so when should we expect to see a short white/Asian women on the Mavs?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 4, 2024
Musk’s question caused Cuban to post another lengthy post, attempting to explain what he meant by his defense of DEI.
“Since this seems to be the most common response, let me address it. DEI does not mean you don’t hire on merit. Of course you hire based on merit. Diversity – means you expand the possible pool of candidates as widely as you can,” said Cuban. “Once you have identified the candidates, you HIRE THE PERSON YOU BELIEVE IS THE BEST.”
“What makes the whole ‘what about the players’ comment ridiculous is that it presumes that all positions are hired based on some quantitative rather than subjective version of merit,” the billionaire businessman continued. “They aren’t. Even choosing the best basketball player is very much a guess. Which is why the best players weren’t always the first pick in the draft and some go undrafted. The reality is that most positions hired in a company don’t have a quantitative metric you can use to hire someone. How do you pick the best barista, sales assistant, marketing or salesperson, etc? More often than not it’s an educated guess.”
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The two billionaires then appeared to agree on at least one aspect of looking at diversity in the hiring process.
“I do think that if merit for a given job is roughly the same, then the tiebreaker should be diversity (of all kinds),” said Musk to which Cuban responded, “Which is no different than what I have been saying. You expand the candidate pool and you are going to find great people that others ignore.”
Large companies in the U.S. have integrated DEI policies into their hiring practices, causing some companies to be accused of race and sex discrimination. Technology company International Business Machines (IBM) sponsored paid internship opportunities, one of which barred white and Asian applicants, and another that was only for women, with an exception for men who identify as women.
Meanwhile, NASCAR offered a paid “diversity internship” that excluded white people from applying, which was first reported by The Daily Wire. After the Daily Wire report, NASCAR removed the racial requirement for its internship.