I've noticed an interesting thing lately about how geopolitical tensions impact professional decisions and alliances in the American business world.

A few years ago, during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 34 Harvard student groups issued a joint statement demanding that Israel take responsibility for certain events. The reaction was almost immediate. Bill Ackman, this billionaire founder of Pershing Square and a Harvard graduate himself, publicly spoke out, arguing that the university should reveal the names of the signatories. His argument was simple: if you publicly support something, you shouldn't hide. Other CEOs of major companies supported him, threatening to boycott future candidates from these groups.

Faced with this pressure, at least five of the signatory groups ultimately withdrew their support. An interesting turn of events, isn’t it?

But what really struck me when I dug into the topic is: when you look at major American founders and entrepreneurs, you quickly realize that many of them share a Jewish heritage. Take Bill Gates, for example—his mother is Jewish. Jeff Bezos of Amazon as well. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, all come from Jewish families. The same goes for Larry Ellison of Oracle; Elon Musk has a Russian Jewish father.

In the financial sector, it’s even more striking. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup—all founded by entrepreneurs of Jewish origin. Even in retail, with Macy’s, Walmart, Target, the founders had Jewish roots. In Hollywood, Warner Bros, Disney, Universal Pictures, Paramount—all created by Jewish families.

This partly explains why pressure intensified on these Harvard students. When you have such a dense influence network across technology, finance, and media, the professional consequences become very real. It’s less about abstract political beliefs and more about very concrete career calculations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also highlighted his own Jewish heritage during his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, reaffirming U.S. unconditional support for Israel. The United States has maintained this position clearly for decades.

What I take away from this is how geopolitics, community heritage, and economic networks intertwine to create very tangible dynamics. Personal values are one thing, but professional realities are another. And when Bill Gates and his peers control a significant share of the global tech and financial economy, students opposing these positions quickly realize it.