Latest news with #businessleadership
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
What's Holding Back Sustainable Business? The Challenges That Matter Most
The race to a sustainable future is on In the next five years, an entire generation of 2030 sustainability goals will finally come due. ESG reports and shareholder letters alike are soon going to face their biggest reckoning yet: will all the lofty promises translate into real progress? Early signs suggest the answer will be sobering. While ambition has soared, actual outcomes have continued to lag stubbornly behind. The reality is not that business leaders lack the will, rather, it's that the pathways to sustainability are far murkier, slower, and more difficult than anyone knew, or perhaps wanted to admit. For many organizations, the past few years have revealed a brutal truth: good intentions alone are not enough. Across industries, leaders are confronting the growing reality that sustainable business challenges run deeper than public promises and ESG reports might suggest. Without the right goals, infrastructure, and incentives, sustainability efforts either stall or end up serving more as marketing than meaning. The subtle forces working against sustainability are often invisible at first: misaligned incentives, fragile infrastructure, and underpriced risk. It's time we look at them more clearly if we want to build companies that can genuinely claim to have moved the world forward. The Importance of Aligning Goals With Real-World Sustainability Execution At the heart of any real change is leadership that understands both the limits of today and the possibilities of tomorrow. Kenn Ricci, founder of Flexjet, is an executive who strives to embody both while also running a business in one of the more challenging industries to be sustainable in, aviation. As he explains it, Ricci's sustainability philosophy doesn't fall into the trap of setting goals that look good but collapse under operational scrutiny. Instead, he focuses on what could become possible with enough pressure and patience, and then works to build the conditions to achieve it, whether it is to further sustainability across his fleet of jets or simply managing the day-to-day operations at the back office. 'When you lead people, you can't just say, 'This is where we're going,'' Ricci explains. 'You have to build a path under their feet, step by step, that makes it believable and doable. Otherwise, it's just a dream. Worse yet, it might be just your dream, and never become theirs.' At Flexjet, Ricci has consistently pursued operational improvements that align with larger sustainability aims, but without forcing the business to lurch into goals it cannot yet support. He argues that trust, not slogans, is what sustains long-term change. 'Sustainability isn't a checkbox even if some still treat it as such,' Ricci continues. 'It's an ongoing negotiation between ambition and reality. The leaders who win are the ones who never let go of either side.' His pragmatic optimism stands in stark contrast to much of the corporate world, where sustainability targets are often designed by communications departments rather than operational leaders. And herein lies the first reason why we haven't seen as much progress on ESG goals as we would have wanted. For far too many companies, sustainability has not been a metric that they have actively led with themselves. Ricci puts it bluntly: 'Sustainability has to be a steering wheel, not a rearview mirror. If you're just reporting it, you're already too late. And the leaders have to be the ones with both hands on it, not just the sustainability or comms team.' He's also keenly aware that true leadership requires putting real capital behind sustainable change, not just political or reputational capital, but operational resources that can withstand market cycles. 'Anyone can make promises when the sun is shining,' Ricci says. 'The question is what you stick to when the headwinds come. That's where real commitment shows.' Why Sustainability Depends on Infrastructure: Lessons From Aviation and Energy If setting the right goals is the first battle, building the right infrastructure is the war. Kennedy Ricci, CEO of 4AIR and son of Kenn Ricci, has spent his career focusing precisely on this frontier. His company offers a certification program for aviation's environmental impact, not by promising zero emissions tomorrow, but by helping aviation stakeholders take verifiable, incremental steps today. 'A lot of people get paralyzed because they think the only good goal is net-zero tomorrow,' Kennedy Ricci explains. 'But if you can measure, track, and improve a little bit every day, that's how you actually get there.' 4AIR's approach doesn't pretend aviation can become clean overnight. Instead, it recognizes that building credibility today through offset programs, sustainable aviation fuels, and transparent reporting lays the groundwork for deeper decarbonization later. The company's rise is testament to the power of pragmatic ambition anchored by real-world execution. Kenn Ricci reflects on his son's growing success: 'Building an empire is one thing. Building a legacy that adapts to the future is something else entirely. I'm proud that Kennedy's taking on the harder challenge.' He continues, "We've always believed that real leadership isn't about announcing goals, it's about laying bricks, patiently, and getting others to walk the road with you. 4AIR is doing just that." Meanwhile, infrastructure challenges aren't limited to aviation. The broader energy ecosystem faces its own existential bottlenecks that a handful of companies are doing their best to break open for the rest of us. Deóis Ua Cearnaigh, CTO at Aeon Blue, a company specializing in energy transition technologies and sustainable fuel, emphasizes that sustainability isn't about simply adding more renewables into the grid. It's about fundamentally rethinking how the grid operates. 'It's wonderful that we have more wind and solar now,' says Cearnaigh. 'But you still need a spinning reserve for when the wind dies and the sun sets. If that reserve is fossil-powered, your emissions story isn't as clean as it looks.' Their bigger point is this: you can't just add renewables on top of a fragile or misaligned system and expect magic. Without reengineering grid storage, reserve capacity, and distribution models, the true sustainability gains remain elusive. Cearnaigh believes that while renewables will dominate the next twenty years, nuclear energy will inevitably rise as the long-term backbone for sustainable baseload power. 'The zeitgeist today is wind, solar, and geothermal,' he reflects. 'But it does also seem that nuclear is one inevitable destination as well.' Without grappling with these infrastructural realities, sustainability risks becoming a story we tell ourselves, not a future we actually live. This mindset mirrors the thinking of Brett Bouchy, CEO of Freedom Forever, a company deadset on revolutionizing residential solar. 'The solar revolution doesn't happen because people feel good about the environment,' Bouchy points out. 'It happens when saving money on your electricity bill is cheaper and easier than sticking to the grid.' Bouchy's laser focus on efficiency is another reminder that for sustainability to scale, it must compete not just morally, but economically. As Bouchy frames it, "We don't succeed by selling dreams. We succeed by selling better economics. And better economics drive real environmental change." He's blunt about the reality check the green economy still needs: "Nobody switches to solar because you guilt them into it. They switch because it's cheaper, easier, and works better. That's how you win hearts, wallets, and the future. And for that, you need the infrastructure to be in place, management to know what goals to drive towards, and an audience that is ready to trust what you are selling." Bouchy also sees a deeper, long-term opportunity that transcends energy bills: "Every home we upgrade is a client win, sure. But it's another node in a smarter, decentralized energy system. Sustainability isn't a utopian idea. It's the byproduct of millions of small, self-interested decisions that add up to a revolution." If only revolutions were easy, which is exactly why stories like the above are worthy of retelling. Companies that rise up to the challenge of sustainability cannot be taken for granted, simply because of how rare they still remain. That is particularly true for investments, which is the third missing pillar that is making 2030 feel further away than it should. Why Long-Term Investment Is the Missing Piece in Sustainability Strategy If setting the right goals is the first battle, and building the right infrastructure is the war, then making the right investments is the long campaign, often fought without fanfare, headlines, or even immediate returns. And it's here where sustainable business faces one of its most persistent barriers: the cruel mismatch between moral urgency and financial immediacy. Capital, by its nature, seeks returns. It rewards speed, liquidity, and demonstrable gains. But sustainability often demands patience, long arcs of investment, and a willingness to fund seeds that may only bear fruit decades from now. It asks us to invest in forests we may never personally walk through. Doing good, it turns out, is relatively easy. But doing good money, investments that compete at par with traditional, short-horizon opportunities, remains the real Everest to climb. This doesn't mean that the private sector is full of villains twirling their overgrown mustaches. It's simply important to recognize the system we've built and how it operates. Until the returns of sustainability become structurally competitive, whether through market shifts, regulatory frameworks, or pure innovation, capital will continue to flow where it always has: toward the short, the sure, the profitable and the now. The uncomfortable truth is that economics, not ethics, will be the final arbiter of the transition's speed, even if ethics gets to set the goal. And yet, there are signs of things shifting. Signs that smart leaders know: a world where customers demand sustainable products is fast approaching. A world where supply chains simply cannot function without green tech is not far behind. Companies who wait until the economics are easy will find that the customers, the talent, and the licenses to operate have already gone elsewhere. Which brings us to the handful of players quietly laying the groundwork. ENEOS, Japan's largest energy group, offers one instructive case. They are investing heavily in hydrogen transportation, synthetic fuels, battery recycling, and carbon capture, not because it makes perfect financial sense today, but because they know what survival will require tomorrow. 'There's no question the world needs cleaner energy,' an ENEOS representative explained in an interview. 'But if you exit fossil fuels too quickly, you leave markets in chaos, and ironically, you can make the transition slower, not faster.' The trick, as they frame it, is not to burn the bridges while crossing the river. Real transition demands continuity, not collapse. "You can't dismantle today's infrastructure before tomorrow's infrastructure is ready," added another ENEOS representative noted. 'The world is too interconnected for idealism alone. You need to build pathways people can actually walk.' This recognition, that reality, not rhetoric, is the substrate upon which change must be built, permeates the thinking of those who are keen to see sustainability truly take root today. Brett Bouchy, CEO of Freedom Forever, who is busy scaling residential solar across America, frames it in plain terms: 'You don't win by selling dreams. You win by selling better economics. If going solar isn't easier and cheaper than sticking with the grid, the revolution doesn't happen. Period.' It's a bracing, necessary reminder that narratives alone don't move markets. Incentives do. And this brings us full circle to the real challenge ahead: building an economy where sustainability isn't a premium add-on for the wealthy or the virtuous, it's the baseline expectation for everyone. In that future, "green" won't be a differentiator. Instead, it will simply be the cost of doing business. Those who invest today with that reality in mind, patient, practical, sometimes lonely, will be the ones best positioned when the forest finally blooms. And those who don't may find themselves, too late, standing outside the gates of a new economy that has no room left for yesterday's math.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Chief Future Officer: Pascal Desroches, AT&T
Chief Financial Officers now play a critical role in shaping corporate strategy and positioning organizations to meet future challenges. This episode profiles AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches, who has partnered with CEO John Stankey to restructure the company around a core of fiber and 5G wireless connectivity. (Source: Bloomberg)
Forbes
06-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Learning By Sharing: How GenAI Can Be The Giving Tree
Nitin Rakesh is the CEO and Managing Director of Mphasis and coauthor of the award-winning book 'Transformation in Times of Crisis.' Our world is witnessing a wave of advancements, from the emergence of automation to the implementation of artificial intelligence. For senior leaders, this acceleration presents opportunities and challenges. While striving to adopt cutting-edge technologies, they are also attempting to ensure these align with business objectives and ethical standards. One of the most transformative yet polarizing of these technologies is generative AI (GenAI). While it promises new avenues for creativity, problem-solving and efficiency, it also raises apprehensions about its impact on typical decision making processes. In this sense, GenAI remains a bit of a paradox for business leaders, as it is both a source of curiosity and a cause for concern. While executives see its immense potential as a transformative tool capable of boosting creativity, streamlining operations and generating efficiency gains across functions, there is an underlying wariness about how it can disrupt established workflows. In the face of GenAI's dual nature, executives are navigating a critical challenge of how to integrate this powerful technology without losing the distinctiveness of human intuition. Rather than framing GenAI as a disruptive force to be managed, a more productive perspective may be to see it as a collaborator—an enabler of shared growth and continuous learning. When viewed this way, I believe GenAI can become more of a partner in learning and development with whom leaders can foster a mutually beneficial relationship mirroring the spirit of mutual giving. However, embracing this potential demands a shift in mindset. It invites leaders to move beyond passive adoption and toward active stewardship of the human-AI dynamic. This reframing introduces important questions: Are leaders thoughtfully measuring GenAI's contributions, not just in efficiency but in depth and relevance? Are they engaging with it in ways that reflect their own values and expertise—training it, shaping it and learning from it in return? And perhaps most importantly, is their ongoing interaction with GenAI expanding their capacity for insight and growth? AI is not an autonomous force—it is a reflection of the data, intentions and perspectives we bring to it. Its development is inseparable from human input. The real opportunity lies not just in what AI can do for us, but in how the human-AI relationship can evolve into one of reciprocal enrichment. Consider an iconic children's literature classic: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. In the story, the tree selflessly offers its apples, branches and eventually its entire trunk to the boy. This tale invites us to reflect on the nature of giving, taking and the balance of relationships. In much the same way, GenAI can be seen as a tireless provider—offering its computational power, adaptability and insights to organizations. Yet unlike the tree, GenAI does not give from a place of emotion or altruism. It responds to the quality of its inputs, the clarity of its training and the intentionality of its use. This analogy prompts a critical shift in how leaders approach AI. While it's tempting to focus solely on what GenAI can do for us—automating tasks, generating insights, fueling innovation—the more profound question is: What are we giving back? How are we shaping, stewarding and engaging with AI to ensure it grows in a direction aligned with human values and long-term impact? If organizations treat AI merely as an extractive tool, they risk building unsustainable dependencies. But if leaders approach the technology as a partner in co-evolution—offering guidance, expertise and ethical oversight—then GenAI becomes more than a resource. It becomes a trusted collaborator, capable of growing alongside the organization. Beyond GenAI's adoption, leaders must know its value, inspiring their teams to integrate AI into daily workflows. Evangelizing AI within the executive team is crucial to ensuring collective alignment, fostering a culture where AI is viewed as an augmentation of human expertise rather than a replacement. This requires a deep understanding of what GenAI can do, allowing leaders to define where it can have the most meaningful impact. For GenAI to truly benefit organizations, leaders must anchor its application in clear, measurable business objectives. Identifying the right problems for GenAI to solve and aligning its deployment with strategic goals ensures its use remains practical and value-driven. Governance is equally critical, ensuring that AI-driven decisions uphold ethical standards and comply with regulatory frameworks. Data quality, infrastructure readiness and an AI-savvy workforce further determine how effectively GenAI can be leveraged. The organizations that invest in these foundational aspects will be best positioned to turn AI into a long-term growth partner like the enduring relationship between the boy and the Giving Tree. When leaders take ownership and adopt an interactive approach, they create an environment of collaboration. Talented individuals are also drawn to such leaders—not just for their effectiveness but for their generosity and team-focused mindset. It is crucial that leaders actively coach GenAI so it evolves in tandem with organizational needs. By continuously refining and adapting its algorithms, leaders can make GenAI more iterative, refined, intelligent and thoughtful. Much like mentoring human employees, providing AI with feedback allows it to improve over time. For instance, organizations have enhanced customer service chatbots by training them on real user interactions, enabling them to respond with greater empathy and accuracy. These iterations ensure that AI evolves to handle more complex queries, improving both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. With each successive interaction, AI becomes better suited to the evolving needs of an organization. This illustrates the timeless relevance of Moore's Law, which predicts that computing power will double every two years. Just as computing capacity expands exponentially, so too can GenAI's ability to solve complex problems as long as it is actively coached. As AI models become more advanced, the need for a growing network of skilled, human trainers becomes essential for their continued improvement. The constant feedback and refinement will fuel GenAI's exponential development—enhancing its capacity to transform businesses. The key to thriving in this new era of AI is learning how to strike the right balance with thoughtful strategy. As organizations continue to work closely with GenAI, partnerships will evolve, leading to exciting outcomes. What will be crucial to keep in mind is that this exchange between human and machine fosters sustainable progress built on collaboration and just practice. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Arabian Business
02-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
Inside the $2 billion rise of Petrochem's Yogesh Mehta – and what comes after
There's something disarming about Yogesh Mehta. For a man who built a $2 billion juggernaut from the dust, he makes you feel like he's just glad you showed up for lunch. 'I'm in the twilight zone,' he smiles. 'That's the best part of the clock. 9 PM to midnight. Whatever I want, I will do. Whoever I want to make happy, I will.' That's not the usual talk of a Gulf tycoon. But then again, Yogesh Mehta was never predictable – and never tried to be. He began working at 16. Not for pocket money, but to pay bills. By the time he landed in Dubai at 29, Mehta had already weathered the kind of personal and professional storms most would never recover from. 'We didn't have jam on the table. We were just trying to keep the lights on.' Back then, there was no LinkedIn, no mentors, and certainly no start-up ecosystem. Just a dusty library, a Yellow Pages, and a gut instinct that said: this place has promise. 'You carved water out of stone,' he says. Petrochem, the chemical distribution business he would go on to build, started with $300,000 in turnover. Today, it moves over $2 billion worth of product annually. From a single office in Dubai, Petrochem now spans London, Singapore, India, Taiwan, Egypt, and beyond. It is the largest chemical distributor in the Middle East and ranks among the top dozen globally. But Mehta rarely leads with numbers. He leads with feeling. 'We are a happy company. Our happiness quotient would be 100 out of 100.' Legacy in motion These days, Mehta isn't sprinting to win the race. 'I've already won,' he says. 'Why would I keep running if no one is behind me?' The line is vintage Mehta: calm, reflective, gently humorous. Yet his presence is anything but ceremonial. He still puts in six to nine hours a day, mentors key talent, and travels for business. Colleagues joke that he's 'semi-retired in theory, not in practice.' But while the engine still runs, it's no longer him behind the wheel. 'That's Rohan's job now,' he says. Rohan Mehta, his only son, is now Managing Director. Soft-spoken but sharp, Rohan brings a different temperament to the business – analytical, digital-first, globally attuned. Alongside CEO Venu Nayar, a 35-year veteran who has been with Mehta since age 22, the trio forms a rare trifecta of legacy, leadership and long-term thinking. 'Rohan brings the youngness,' Mehta says. 'The freshness. The new element.' The transition hasn't been symbolic. It's been gradual, deliberate and deeply embedded. 'You have to know when you become the stumbling block to growth,' Mehta says. 'I survive on gut instinct. But the company needs AI, digital transformation, and global intelligence. And I don't have those skills.' What he does have – what few can replicate – is a legacy of judgement. And a culture he's spent 30 years cultivating. 'The only thing I can do is lend my experience. Build the culture. And step back.' The world has changed Mehta is under no illusion that his journey could be easily replicated today. If anything, he's clear-eyed about just how dramatically the business landscape has evolved – and how much harder it is to break through now. 'If I, by myself, remembering what I did when I came here, I would think that it would be a very steep climb for me to succeed in the landscape of today,' he says. 'The reasons are that you need a very different skill set than we had to counter the uphill task or the uphill competition that the world is suffering from.' That competition isn't theoretical. It's global, immediate, and often overwhelming. 'China is the biggest competition to the world, to everything,' Mehta says. 'Oversupply of products is the biggest detriment to future growth.' As a distributor, Petrochem faces a volatile landscape where pricing, demand, and sourcing can shift overnight. 'The world works with a demand, supply balance. That is, when there is good demand, there is good supply – everyone is happy. When there is over demand and poor supply – the customer is not happy. When there is oversupply, but the world doesn't want it – nobody's happy.' The pace of change is relentless. 'Now the price structure in May might be very different than it was in March, and the customer who's received the cargo in May will say, 'Do you know that this morning, the price collapsed of the product that you're selling me?'' he explains. Even the most fundamental industry structures are changing. 'Disruptive technology is going to be the leader of the future,' he warns. 'Uber. Bike riders. Online platforms. Real-time logistics. These are shaping how the chemical world must operate too.' Technology isn't just affecting how Petrochem does business – it's also reshaping human behaviour. For Mehta, the rise of social media is emblematic of a broader cultural shift that prioritises speed and spectacle over substance. 'Social media is corrupting the world,' he says. 'It's misleading us. One day they tell you milk is good, the next day it's poison. Eggs are healthy, then they're dangerous. It's all confusion – noise without wisdom.' He doesn't just see it as a generational annoyance, but as a structural distraction. 'The blue light before bed, the endless scrolling, the false validation – none of it adds real value. People are spending so much time reacting to the world, they've stopped creating in it.' Beyond markets and machines, Mehta also sees a shift in mindset. 'The Millennials don't like to own. They like to lease. They don't think much about the marriage institution. They don't have that many children. All this affects the GDP of countries.' So what does it take to survive? 'We would need sharper skill sets. We would need a thicker skin, tongue in cheek. We would have to reduce our needs.' For Mehta, that context makes Petrochem's legacy all the more meaningful – and the next generation's challenge all the more complex. The heart of happiness Mehta's story is filled with hard-won wisdom. He doesn't airbrush the past. He speaks candidly of the moments when everything seemed stacked against him – times when he couldn't even afford the hospital bill for his son's birth. 'We had no money, and there was nobody to help,' he recalls. In another moment of brutal honesty, he describes how a heated argument with his sister led to years of silence before a moment of clarity struck him mid-flight to Lyon. 'I begged her forgiveness,' he says. 'She said, 'You're my brother. What are you talking about?'' These experiences didn't just shape him; they freed him. From those moments came humility, from humility came grace, and from grace came peace. Mehta is no longer a man consumed by ambition or the trappings of empire. 'I don't want to be Warren Buffett,' he says. 'Why would I run this company at 80? I'd rather be in Machu Picchu.' He talks about opening a restaurant – not for profit, but for joy. He plays golf, collects vinyls, and immerses himself in jazz. His cellar is curated with the same attention to detail he once gave to logistics spreadsheets. And when the day has been long and unforgiving? 'I ask my cook to make the spiciest egg curry. We open a vintage bottle and let it breathe. That's my therapy.' Much of that peace, he says, comes from the quiet strength of his wife. 'She's my companion. She's my mother, my mother-in-law, my sister, my lover, my mistress, my wife, grandmother… so I have a great company at home,' he says. 'We are best friends.' They've known each other since childhood – she was six, he was seven. That shared history has become the anchor to everything. 'My wife plays Mahjong and does a lot of charity work. She's been with me through it all. We think the same. We bring that part into the company.' It's not a retirement. It's a reinvention – one anchored by love, perspective, and personal peace. And perhaps the truest legacy of all: the freedom to savour life, with the person who's stood beside him through it all. Petrochem's people first philosophy Despite its scale, Petrochem remains proudly family-run. 'It's a mom-and-pop show with a $2 billion balance sheet,' Mehta quips. But behind that humour is a deeply serious ethical code. 'Keep your company happy, safe and secure. That's the whole ethos,' he says. 'You look after the people, and they will look after the numbers.' That ethos radiates from the top and touches every corner of the organisation. The receptionist, whom Mehta describes as the 'window to the world,' receives as much care and attention as the most senior executive. 'A courier or a CEO sees her first. Her mood, her smile – that's our first impression.' Expectant mothers are given daily fresh coconut water, saffron, and almonds. There's a private room for nursing, flexibility around maternity leave, and constant check-ins to ensure new mothers feel supported – not just accommodated. 'We treat it like a nursery,' Mehta says, 'because they're carrying our future.' There are gender parity targets, mental health sessions, and open-door HR policies. Fridays are for ice cream. Departments regularly take team-building trips to Fujairah or Ras Al Khaimah. The finance team does karaoke. Sales go on hiking retreats. 'We even have mock dance sessions,' he laughs. 'Because stress is huge in our line of work. And joy is serious business.' Building what's next Even as he fades from the daily frontlines, Mehta remains Petrochem's chief crusader. The company is investing in a $100 million terminal at Jebel Ali, a sprawling facility designed to triple its current storage capacity and meet the surging demand for just-in-time chemical logistics in the Gulf. Mehta describes it as the physical manifestation of Petrochem's future – strategically located, digitally optimised, and built for scale. Regionally, the firm is doubling down on Egypt, where two terminals – one in Alexandria, the other in Port Said – anchor its North African plans. Jordan and Syria are next. 'We were there before,' he says of Syria. 'And now we're going back. We build capacity quietly, and we let the service speak.' On the horizon is a bold shift: specialty chemical manufacturing. Plans are already underway to commission facilities that cater to high-margin sectors like pharmaceuticals, coatings, and advanced materials. Parallel to this, new offices in Europe and the Americas are expected to open within five years. 'It's all about adjacency,' Mehta explains. 'If you do one thing really well, you look at the next five things your customer needs.' Asked if an IPO is on the horizon, Mehta waves it off with the ease of someone who doesn't need an exit. 'We were offered $900 million six years ago. We said no. Maybe one day, if Rohan decides. Not me.' Because Mehta knows his exit isn't about control. It's about continuity. And the future of Petrochem, he believes, lies not in the headlines – but in the infrastructure being built quietly behind the scenes. In this reinvention chapter of his life, Mehta is clear: he doesn't want to be pigeonholed. 'I'm not a one-trick pony,' he says. 'I love this job, and I'm very good at it. But I also love jazz, food, travel, literature. Why would I only live one version of myself?' The final word When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Yogesh Mehta doesn't talk about market share or valuation. 'I wish to be known as a good guy,' he says. 'Not a tycoon. Just someone who brought good cheer. Who lived fully. Who left behind happiness.' There are few business leaders who could say that – and mean it. But then again, Yogesh Mehta was never the usual.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What Snoop Dogg Has Learned About Himself After Following Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Federal Trial
Rap mogul and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has recently shared his thoughts on Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ongoing federal trial. During a recent podcast appearance, Snoop Dogg—known for his diverse business ventures, including Death Row Records and Leafs By Snoop—also revealed that hearing witness testimony in Diddy's trial has inspired him to be a better businessman. On a recent episode of "The Shade Room Live," Snoop Dogg was asked about Diddy's trial—now in its third week—and revealed he was surprised by some of the details emerging from the witness stand. "Very surprised. I'm ultimately surprised. I don't be expecting none of these things to be happening," he said before admitting Diddy's trial has helped him realize he wants to be better, considering his "position of power." "Given my position of leadership, I like to take advantage of it and treat people good and make sure that people that work with me don't feel like they work for me," Snoop said. "And when they're ready to leave, and if we have a misunderstanding, if there is a separation, it's ended on love. It's never bad vibes or anything of that nature." And that's not all that the "Drop It Like It's Hot" rapper reflected on. He also said that watching Diddy's legal woes play out has made him realize he wants to be a "better boss." He explained that when he was "just an artist," he paid close attention to how people with authority behaved. "I try to take the good things that they did and subtract the bad things that they did," Snoop continued. "Some of the things I didn't know what they did because I was only entitled to certain information as an artist or a friend. So as a businessman, I've learned to just be good to people, because I know what it feels like to have bad business done on you." During this past week's witness testimony, one of Diddy's former assistants alleged that the rapper and father of seven once kidnapped her at gunpoint, reportedly in a plot to kill fellow rapper Kid Cudi. For context, Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, had previously testified that Diddy allegedly broke into his home several years ago after learning Cudi was dating Diddy's then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. Kid Cudi also testified that Diddy allegedly set his Porsche 911 convertible on fire with an incendiary device, saying, "The top of my Porsche was cut open and that's where they inserted the Molotov cocktail." Also on the stand, Cassie shared harrowing testimony about her decade-long relationship with Diddy and also described the first time the rapper allegedly told her about his desire to see her have sex with other men. "I was 22 at the time, my stomach churned, didn't have a concept of how that would be a turn on, but I accepted the responsibility," Cassie testified. "I was confused, nervous, but also loved him very much and wanted to make him happy." Later, the "Me & U" singer told the court about the sexual orgies Diddy allegedly planned (which he reportedly dubbed "Freak Offs"), and how her participation in them became all-consuming. She testified that the elaborate sexual encounters, which left her feeling "disgusting" and "humiliated," would last for hours, with the longest lasting "four days." During the alleged "freak offs," Cassie explained on the stand that she'd have sex with male escorts, usually while under the influence of illicit drugs. One male performer, named "The Punisher," took the stand during the trial and testified about his involvement in the alleged orgy, and said he was paid $2,000 to create a "sexy scene" with Cassie for Diddy to masturb-te to. A week after his testimony, "The Punisher" apologized to Cassie for his role in the matter, saying he had "no idea [of] what she was going through." "Obviously, my involvement kind of furthered her suffering. Me, knowing that as a man, being raised by a single mom and a grandma, just the thought of partaking in a scenario where a woman is possibly being abused is tough to hear. I would just apologize to her and tell her that I was really remorseful and regret if I contributed to a bad experience for her," he finished.
