When CEOs Use War Metaphors, Analysts Worry

“We’re going to put them out of business and buy that building, which we’re going to bulldoze. After that, we will salt the ground. Then we’ll go after their families,” Larry Ellison, executive chairman of Oracle, once allegedly proclaimed compared to the competitor. Such a statement embodies aggressive war metaphors that often appear in corporate communication. And while it’s a particularly vivid example, it’s hardly exceptional. In acquisition announcements, CEOs regularly frame their strategies as battles to be won. In 2006, then-CEO of McClatchy, Gary Pruitt, he told investors and analysts“The stakes have never been higher… and we dare not go into battle with anything less than the best.” In a 2015 conference call with analysts, Infinera Corporation executives were “armed with an end-to-end offer.” In a 2013 call, Veeco Instruments described the mobile market as a “battlefield,” and in 2009, First Solar described their acquisition as an “offensive” aimed at outpacing competitors.