Coronavirus outbreak: How global CEOs have reacted

BusinessToday.In

Mar 2, 2020,
Updated Mar 2, 2020 7:04 PM IST

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Panic has gripped the world as Novel coronavirus has spread to more than 60 countries till now. Globally, almost 90,000 people have been affected since the outbreak began in December in Wuhan, China. Global death toll from the virus has exceeded 3,000 with the outbreak worsening in South Korea, Iran and Italy. Business across the world is also getting impacted with temporary operational shutdowns. For instance, Disney's Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks have been closed for more than a month. Several business and sporting events have been postponed or cancelled. While some global CEOs remain optimistic about the outbreak, most of them seem fearful, doubtful and are treading with care.

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Daniel Zhang
CEO, Alibaba
"Coronavirus is a black swan event. The challenges coronavirus poses will have a significant impact on China and the entire world."

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Tim Cook
CEO, Apple
"It seems to me that China is getting the coronavirus under control. You look at the numbers, they are coming down day by day. I am very optimistic there."

4/11

Bob Chapek
CEO, Walt Disney Co.
"When you have a brand as strong as ours with tremendous franchises and built-in consumer demand, we know that when we are able to re-open, we will come back better and stronger than ever."

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Lesli ThngCEO, Vistara"If you look at the airline industry over a decade, there always are some episodes of shocks. Airlines will have to make some adjustments to the capacity, they have to make some adjustments to the frequency, etc. We have to just make sure that we (airlines) remain flexible and nimble."

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Enrique LoresCEO, HP Inc."We have estimated that in Q2 the novel coronavirus outbreak will have an 8 cents impact on EPS (Earning per share), and this is what we have built into our predictions."

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Grant ReidCEO, Mars Inc."Nobody really knows the ongoing impact."

8/11

Rickard GustafsonCEO, Scandinavian airline SAS
"If this situation is spreading globally and it's not contained before we enter into the summer season, it might be more problematic, not just for SAS but also for the industry as a whole."

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Jeff HinesCEO, Hines
"Coronavirus is a major, major concern at this point."

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Jamie DimonCEO, J P Morgan Chase"We'll just have to wait and see. Obviously, we hope [the virus] is contained. It's a human casualty, you feel terrible for it."

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Oliver BaeteCEO, Allianz SE
"Markets are overreacting to the threat of the rapidly spreading coronavirus and the global economy will only see a short-term impact."