From Bezos to Musk: Be aware of personal brands

Image: Reuters

From Bezos to Musk: Be aware of personal brands. While powerful and often beneficial, they could turn into a governance nightmare.

Personal brands of big corporate leaders carry quite a dilemma in this age of hypervisibility. In some ways, they’re incredible assets, seizing on the unique communication advances of the 21st century. They turn important personalities into household names, bringing the companies they’re attached to along for the ride.

In other ways, they’re a risk that hasn’t existed before, or at least one that’s far more potent. If the personal brand of a CEO, board chair, or executive director takes a tumble into “cancel” territory, your company may be in trouble too. 

There’s no getting away from this reality. Leaders will behave just like any other influential people and use their personal public platforms beyond their corporate roles. Audiences who see these platforms will have the narrative in their heads from the start, and their opinions will spread instantly. Leader X runs Company Y – therefore, what I think about X, I think about Y. 

Recent examples show that there is a darker side to this kind of hypervisibility, especially since we’re also in an era where moderation doesn’t seem to pay off. It’s the loudest, proudest, and often the most controversial that gets rewarded with media attention. In this kind of arena, reputations will be amplified quickly and could change overnight. 

With one bad interview or public comment, a company could go from “swept into glory” to “dragged into chaos”. This is what you need to be conscious of.

Jeff Bezos’ June 2025 wedding in Venice is one of the most extravagant events of the year. 

Intended to be a celebration of love, it hasn’t landed that way for many, who see the three-day affair as excessive showboating. It doesn’t help that the wedding takes place in a city so hounded by tourists that its resident population has decreased by 70% in the last 70 years. 

Protests have sprung up in Venice against Bezos, against Amazon, against overtourism, against the tax habits of the wealthy or their impact on climate change. As the media covers these protests, Bezos automatically looks tone-deaf and out of touch. Among Amazon executives and in the boardroom, this narrative won’t be welcome, because leaders now have to assess if it comes with any risk. 

They might be thinking of Elon Musk, another example of a personal brand backfiring in the company. 

Musk’s decision to join the Trump administration sparked widespread controversy among Tesla’s stakeholders. He had been a polarising figure for a few years before Trump, now he was taking it to another level. 

His involvement in US right-wing politics coincided with slumping Tesla sales worldwide to varying degrees. No example was stronger than Germany, where Musk had endorsed the right-wing AfD party, and year-on-year sales figures dropped by over half in some months of early 2025. 

Musk also didn’t make himself available as a corporate leader to deal with these problems, compounded by competitor advances, sparking worry among key Tesla personnel that Musk’s brand was causing serious issues that he didn’t have time to solve.

The lessons from Bezos and Musk might seem like outliers, chiefly because of how wealthy and famous the two examples are. But there is a deeper point to these stories than that. You don’t need a household name or a nine-figure following to be influential. Personal brands – even within industries – can carry tremendous weight. 

If your head of ESG is known for attachment to a particular political party, or your CEO is a highly desired speaker at industry events, they could become tied to your company’s integrity and performance. When this works for the benefit of both, you’re in calm waters. When one suffers because of the other, you’re in rough seas. 

Personal brands can cause problems due to even the smallest off-the-cuff comment at an industry event, or an insignificant political endorsement that suddenly becomes a big deal. 

In these cases, the relationship between the company and the leader’s personal brand becomes one of misalignment, miscommunication, and increased reputational risk.

If you’re reading everything above and thinking you need to keep a firm eye on what your leaders say and do, rest assured that most leaders’ brands don’t automatically carry risk like Bezos and Musk. 

The message isn’t to be afraid of what leaders do with their personal brands; it’s to be aware. Know exactly how they feel and what they’re prepared to say on social media or when someone puts a microphone in front of them. Often, they won’t mean much because your leaders’ views will align with those of the company. Why wouldn’t they, since most leaders are asked this in a recruitment process? 

The risk will always be there, but as long as you’re aware of what it looks like and have the expertise to manage it, you’re much better prepared. 

This works in other ways, too. There are some occasions where the reverse occurs, and the actions of a company could impact the leader’s personal brand. 

It’s also very possible that the real risk to your company comes from having a leader with a strong brand and not using it to the max – a kind of “lost opportunity” that could have helped your company send its message. 

Both of these are factors you need to consider when managing brands, too.

Managing the impact of a leader’s personal brand is a clever dance. It involves knowing when to lean in, and when to step back, when to defend, and when to let silence do the work.

If your company ever needs to respond to an outspoken leader publicly, your skills as a director/executive/manager should be brought to the fore. It’s one of many kinds of risk that companies face, so knowing how to manage it with confidence will be crucial.