Elon Musk Roasts Mark Cuban For His Take On ‘DEI’
Elon Musk went after Mark Cuban on X on Thursday, exposing how Cuban’s poor interpretation of DEI initiatives could easily lead to ridiculous outcomes.
After the resignation of disgraced Harvard University president Claudine Gay, Cuban couldn’t help himself by weighing in on the discourse around “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts in business. And is so often the case from Cuban, he completely, and purposefully, missed the point.
Cuban posted what he believes DEI means, which is, of course, not at all what it actually means in practice. To him, diversity is where “Good businesses look where others don't, to find the employees that will put your business in the best possible position to succeed.” ... “You may not agree,” Cuban said. “But I take it as a given that there are people of various races, ethnicities, orientation, etc that are regularly excluded from hiring consideration. By extending our hiring search to include them, we can find people that are more qualified. The loss of DEI-Phobic companies is my gain.”
Musk responded by asking him, “Cool, so when should we expect to see a short white/Asian women on the Mavs?”
As of late afternoon Thursday, Cuban had yet to respond. Shocking.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 01: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looks on ahead of a game between the Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on December 01, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
Elon Musk Makes A Point About What DEI Actually Means
Cuban’s lengthy thread on what he believes DEI means is all well and good. It’s also disconnected from reality.
What he’s actually describing is equality, giving people equal opportunities to interview, regardless of their skin color, gender, background or other specific characteristic. What equity, the “E” in “DEI,” actually means though, is equality of outcome. Simply, it means that in your hiring, promoting and retention practices, you enforce rules and processes to ensure that outcomes based on different ethnic and gender groups are the same. The white people you hire must be no less or more successful than the black people you hire. Etc.
READ: ARE THE TIDES FINALLY TURNING? TECH COMPANIES ARE SLASHING HUGE AMOUNT OF DEI JOBS
Unsurprisingly, that’s not possible, not a realistic goal to achieve, and a nonsensical way of doing business. In short, it’s the exact opposite of what Mark Cuban described. But it is what Elon Musk described in his response.
Equity, in practice, means that the “hires” on the Dallas Maverick’s basketball team must represent the demographics of society. And that their outcomes as players, how good or bad they are, must be the same. That’s literally what it means. If someone is getting more playing time or scoring more points, the playing field must be leveled to ensure that all the players have the same results.
But of course, that’s not what Cuban does or has done with his roster, because it would be impossible to put together a competitive roster under those criteria.
Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Ignored When They’re Not Convenient
Musk’s response, flippant as it was, is an accurate view of what DEI initiatives actually mean. When there’s a competitive outcome at stake, Cuban is more than happy to ensure that his team has the best possible players, regardless of their skin color or ethnic background.
There is, as he describes, nothing wrong with having a diverse workforce that represents your customers. It may even be helpful for business, as he claims. But the Mavericks basketball team obviously does not reflect the demographics of the city of Dallas. Yet somehow it's still successful. And Cuban has no problem with his business profiting off an inequitable structure, team composition and racial makeup.
Exactly as OutKick’s Clay Travis posted.
He may say that he’d happily grant a short person the opportunity to interview or try out for the Mavericks to advance his fairytale version of DEI. But he’d never hire a short person to replace a useful player. Even though that’s what DEI would require in practice. Equal outcomes, not opportunities.
Unfortunately, this purposeful ignorance has become a feature of Cuban’s personality. Unwilling to challenge current progressive consensus, straw man arguments and false dichotomies.
Cuban invented his own take on what DEI should be. Musk’s post represents what it actually is. Shockingly, Cuban has yet to figure that out yet. And based on his thread, he never will.