| View this email in your browser. October 14, 2021
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Former CVS exec Helena Foulkes is running for governor of Rhode Island, Jane Fraser shares her plan for Citigroup, and Match Group CEO Shar Dubey weighs in on abortion rights—and Apple’s in-app payments. Have a great Friday.
– Match point. When Texas banned abortion at six weeks, Match Group CEO Shar Dubey was one of the first—and only—public company CEOs to speak out.
That outspokenness was notable on an issue as sensitive for businesses as abortion rights—but it wasn’t new. At the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. yesterday, I interviewed Dubey about her views on another hot-button topic: Apple and Google app store fees on in-app payments, or IAP.
As the CEO behind dating apps as popular—and lucrative—as Tinder and Hinge, Dubey is well positioned to weigh in on the issue at stake in the Epic v. Apple ruling and new legislation in South Korea and the Netherlands. Match pays $500 million annually in IAP fees; Dubey, in a tongue-in-cheek way, calls Apple the “second-largest dating app company” for how much it rakes in through the 30% cut it takes from nearly every dating app transaction.
Match Group CEO Shar DubeyStuart Isett—Fortune MPW “If the whole world is challenging this, someone at Apple has to take a step back and say, ‘Does this still feel like the right thing to do?’” she asked yesterday, discussing the issue at length publicly for the first time.
Dubey took a stand yesterday on another issue as well: reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. In an op-ed for Fortune,the CEO called on Congress to pass VAWA. She connects the call to action back to Match’s business: as a company that brings strangers together, Match has a responsibility when it comes to women’s safety, both online and in person.
Dubey is a longtime vet of the online dating industry (she took over as CEO from Mandy Ginsberg in early 2020), and the first in her family not to have an arranged marriage—giving her the opportunity to reflect on all the different ways she’s seen people meet and fall in love.
Thanks to Shar for joining us at the MPW Summit—and that’s a wrap on the three-day event. More highlights from the Summit below. See you all next time!
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet, Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women, is coauthored by Kristen Bellstrom, Emma Hinchliffe, and Claire Zillman. Today’s edition was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.
A note from Fortune The stakes have never been higher. Get the jump on the future of sustainability and the businesses leading the fight against climate change, with Fortune’s Path to Zero series. Learn more. MORE FROM THE MPW SUMMIT
- How to diversify. TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett has a strategy for work-life balance: "Live your life like a diversified portfolio." "I’m an executive, I’m a mother, I’m a philanthropist. I’m a daughter, sister, friend—and we allocate," she explains. Each part of her life may not receive 100% of her attention, but for the 30% it does get, she's 100% focused. Fortune
- Movie night. WarnerMedia Studios CEO Ann Sarnoff believes audiences are on the way back to the movie theater. So far, mostly under-35 audiences have made the plunge back to theater viewing—helping movies appealing to that demographic to succeed—but the James Bond film No Time to Die is getting the over-35 crowd back to the theater for the first time. Fortune
- Take two. How is Bobbi Brown building a major beauty brand, for a second time? "The rules are yours to make," she says she realized. Her new brand is Jones Road Beauty, founded after she left her namesake Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, owned by Estée Lauder. Fortune
- Slam dunk. WNBA star Sue Bird fought for improved salaries for athletes and benefits like fertility support in the league's new contract. "It’s time that these conversations are more public so they become the norm. ... We’re going to be on TV, and it’s going to get talked about," she says. "And now it can encourage other people to level that playing field." Fortune
CONTENT FROM MEDC The Michigan advantage See how the state’s manufacturing and design heritage, innovation expertise, and talented workforce are shaping the future—and keeping the world moving. Click here for more.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Ready to run. Helena Foulkes, the former CEO of Hudson's Bay Company, announced a run for governor of Rhode Island. "This is a time of both great crisis and opportunity in the Ocean State," the former exec at Rhode Island-headquartered CVS, who is running as a Democrat, said in her announcement. Providence Journal
- Office politics. Learn more about CEO Jane Fraser's plan for Citigroup in this profile. Her divergence from Wall Street peers' push to return en masse to the in-person office, instead allowing workers to mostly choose their hybrid work breakdown, isn't just about supporting employees; it's also a weapon in the talent wars. "I want to crush the competition," says Fraser. Bloomberg
- Normal controversy. Author Sally Rooney, known for Normal People, declined to sell the Hebrew translation rights for her new novel Beautiful World, Where Are You to an Israeli publishing house. She says she would like to see the book translated for Hebrew-speaking readers, but will not sell the rights to a company that does not "publicly distance itself from apartheid and support the U.N.-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people." New York Times
ON MY RADAR
Business leaders have the power to disrupt the political status quo Fortune
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO: The labor crunch is 'one of the biggest problems threatening the country' Fortune
Vaxxinity CEO says the U.S. needs more vaccine options Fortune
PARTING WORDS
"I’m not the Black publisher, I’m the publisher."
-Dana Canedy on her role leading Simon and Schuster. She spoke at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit.
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