Don’t publicize location or other details. I now receive a number of invites where the location is disclosed only after I RSVP ‘yes.’ Sometimes, that’s to keep party-crashers at bay, but it’s also a smart security move. Of course, that’s not possible for events like the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is why gunman Cole Tomas Allen knew to book a room at Hilton, where it was being held. It’s a common practice for CEOs to book hotel rooms under pseudonyms or a staffers’ name. 

Split up the leadership team. Like the royal family, most companies have policies that bar key executives and board members from traveling on the same plane. It’s surprising to me that at least two-thirds of the 18 officials in line to succeed the president were at the dinner, many in close proximity to Trump. 

Talk to your kids. You don’t have to be a billionaire to be exposed to the threat of kidnapping, extortion, or fraud. There are ways to minimize it. Growing up, my family used a different (non-Catholic) last name when visiting with Protestant relatives during ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Many leaders I know have a safe word for their company and another for their family that they know to use if any strange phone calls come in from fraudsters pretending to be them. In an age when identity theft is so prevalent, it’s a smart thing for everyone to do.

Take steps to rebuild trust. Countries that tolerate hate speech, whether from presidents or platforms, are more likely to experience hate crimes. The Edelman Trust Barometer has shown a steady deterioration of trust to the point where a remarkable number of people feel violence is justified. The ‘institution’ they trust most is their employer, which means CEOs have a unique power to do something. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin is speaking up. Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg wrote about the fragility of democracy in his annual shareholder letter. Synchrony CEO Brian Doubles talks about prioritizing ways to keep trust high, which may explain why the company ranked No. 1 on our latest 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Nobody can prevent random violence, but they can protect against it—and try to create conditions that reduce its spread.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

Top leadership news

Ternus’s China headache

When John Ternus succeeds Tim Cook as Apple CEO on Sept. 1, he’ll inherit a rebounding China business, with $64.3 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue and a strong iPhone 17-driven start to 2026. But he faces touchy U.S.-China tensions, supply-chain diversification challenges, AI delays, and renewed pressure from Huawei and Xiaomi. 

The ‘Buffett Indicator’ flashes red

The S&P 500 has rebounded to a near all-time record of 7165 since the Iran war sparked a selloff. Here’s the shocker: The Buffett Indicator now stands at 227%, a figure that’s around one-sixth higher than what Buffett identified as the prepare-for-a-roasting zone. Buffett’s thesis does not predict when the market swings back into balance, just that it will eventually, and when it does all investors will feel the pain.

When insider trading is the whole point

George Mason University professor Robin Hanson, who helped develop the market scoring rule used by many prediction markets, said people with inside information should be on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. “You want the most accurate prices. That’s pretty clear. The purpose of the market is to inform decisions.”

The markets

S&P 500 futures are down 0.08% this morning. The last session closed up 0.80%. The STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.11% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.04% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.38%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.03%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.20%. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 2.15%. India’s NIFTY 50 is up 0.86%. Bitcoin was at $78K.

Around the watercooler

Florida’s influx of rich residents is killing the middle class and housing market by Sydney Lake

‘You feel radicalized’: A Meta AI exec watched agents beat her top workers. Now she’s built a nonprofit to help Gen Z find jobs before they disappear by Jake Angelo

North Korean IT workers are stealing remote jobs and raking in billions—and Americans are helping them do it by Amanda Gerut  

 U.S. oil producers aren’t coming to the rescue despite high prices as mistrust and chaos hit outlook. The ‘market is being manipulated’ by Jason Ma

CEO Daily is curated and edited by Andrew Wyrich, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.