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A Majority of CFOs Now See Trump’s Nomination As Inevitable

CEOs now view Donald Trump as the inevitable GOP nominee.

GettyImages-514392124
GettyImages-514392124

Fears of a Donald Trump presidency recently spurred Wall Street to begin managing money more conservatively and now, for the first time, corporate leaders say they expect the business mogul-turned-Republican-front-runner to win the GOP nomination.

Fears of a Donald Trump presidency recently spurred Wall Street to begin managing money more conservatively and now, for the first time, corporate leaders say they expect the business mogul-turned-Republican-front-runner to win the GOP nomination.

According to a CNBC Global CFO Council survey, conducted between Feb. 25 and March 8 and released Thursday, about 67 percent of CFOs believe Trump will represent Republicans in the 2016 presidential contest. That’s up from 15.4 percent in December, when 16.7 percent of CFOs favored Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida) to win take the GOP ticket.

The dramatic swing in CFO sentiment toward Trump comes despite broad corporate heavyweights’ opposition to him. Business icons Jack Welch, Michael Eisner, and Meg Whitman all have blasted Trump. Moreover, reports indicate Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google cofounder Larry Page, Napster creator and Facebook investor Sean Parker, and Tesla Motors and SpaceX chief Elon Musk secretly met with Republican leaders in Georgia recently to discuss how to stop Trump’s rise.

Business leaders are paid a lot of money to predict what’s coming down the line and adjust their strategies accordingly. Right now, they agree with national polls: Trump all but certainly will upend the Republican establishment and take the nomination. And that is spooking corporate managers and Wall Street investors alike.

Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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