Stagwell Survey Highlights CEO Priorities for 2025 Amid U.S. Election Concerns and Gulf Investment Interest

Stagwell has published the results of a global survey that explored the perspectives of 100 CEOs on their 2025 priorities, anticipated impacts of the U.S. presidential election on economic and political stability, and interest in investing in the Gulf region. The findings were presented by Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn on October 30 at the 8th Edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Summit in Riyadh, underscoring Stagwell’s commitment to the MENA region.

Conducted by Stagwell’s NRG, the survey builds on the 2024 FII Institute Compass survey and was designed to capture CEO insights on critical issues for 2025. The survey ran exclusively in English from October 4 to October 11, 2024, targeting CEOs of companies with at least 10,000 employees.

Key Findings from Stagwell’s 2024 Global CEO Survey:

Anticipated Impact of the U.S. Election on Business

• A substantial 77% of CEOs reported that the upcoming U.S. presidential election would influence their 2025 business strategies.
• Non-U.S. CEOs showed mixed opinions on which U.S. candidate might better stimulate the global economy.
• CEOs expect trade policy and immigration to undergo significant shifts depending on the election’s outcome.
• Reflecting general public sentiment, 35% of global CEOs identified inflation as the most pressing economic issue, followed by consumer confidence (30%) and energy prices (25%).

Interest in Gulf Region Investments

• The Gulf region and Saudi Arabia emerged as attractive investment markets for global CEOs.
• Seventy-nine percent of global CEOs rated the current Gulf investment climate as very or somewhat attractive, and 86% expressed similar sentiments about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia specifically.

Optimism for Technology and AI

• Innovation and technology were viewed as positive forces, with 85% of CEOs optimistic about their potential to improve quality of life.
• Seventy-three percent of global CEOs showed optimism regarding AI’s impact on citizen well-being, with 35% expressing strong optimism.

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