History Main / HonestCorporateExecutive

** ''ComicBook/IronMan'': Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Enterprises, is this once he quit being a weapons dealer. Well, [[DependingOnTheWriter in his "better" portrayals]], at least. Issues like his involvement in the events of the ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' series cast doubts on the integrity of his corporate practices. But even as distasteful as weapons manufacturing is to a lot of people, he was a pretty honest guy with those, too. Making for the US Armed forces, not (knowingly) ever providing for terrorists, etc. For instance, in a famous story, "Doomquest," when Stark learned that an underling sold military tech to Doctor Doom, he instantly fired him, refunded Doom's money, tried to prevent Doom's minion from taking the goods anyway, and then personally confronted Doom in his own castle to get them back.

** ComicBook/IronMan: Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Enterprises, is this once he quit being a weapons dealer. Well, [[DependingOnTheWriter in his "better" portrayals]], at least. Issues like his involvement in the events of the ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' series cast doubts on the integrity of his corporate practices. But even as distasteful as weapons manufacturing is to a lot of people, he was a pretty honest guy with those, too. Making for the US Armed forces, not (knowingly) ever providing for terrorists, etc. For instance, in a famous story, "Doomquest," when Stark learned that an underling sold military tech to Doctor Doom, he instantly fired him, refunded Doom's money, tried to prevent Doom's minion from taking the goods anyway, and then personally confronted Doom in his own castle to get them back.
** In most ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' stories (and especially more recent ones), J. Jonah Jameson ultimately falls into this trope. As DaEditor of ''The Daily Bugle'', he's gruff, short-tempered, and makes absolutely no secret of his outright hatred for the webslinger. But in addition to being a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold good guy deep down]], he's also unflinchingly moral. J.J. always protects his sources (to the point of being jailed at least twice for doing so), is one of the only media moguls in the city who [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules refuses to be bought out]] by ComicBook/TheKingpin, and openly supports mutant rights in an era when [[FantasticRacism anti-"mutie" sentiment]] is rampant.[[note]]His problem with superheroes is that he hates masked vigilantism, not that he holds their powers against them.[[/note]] Earlier incarnations showed him as more amoral and obsessed in taking down Spider-Man (for example, he funded the research that turned Mac Gargan into the Scorpion), but as CharacterDevelopment kicked in, he gradually evolved into this trope--to the point of fighting off demons when the ''Bugle's'' offices were overrun during an attack from Hell.
** ComicBook/TheWasp: Janet Van Dyne is shown to manage both her own fashion company and her ex-husband's scientific research company with both competence and ethical practices. Her developing skill at this actually aided when she became the Avengers' chairperson, as she applied her business leadership skills to managing the Avengers. [[ComicBook/TheUnstoppableWasp In the 2010s]], she also took to financing her step-daughter's scientific research group, providing research funding to some under-privileged ChildProdigy teens, hiring her friend Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird as a mentor/protector to them, and hiring petty supervillains Poundcakes and Letha of the Grapplers as security in order to give them financial incentive to stay clear of criminal activity.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' certainly counts. He is seen many times to be ReasonableAuthorityFigure with his employees and cancels several deals with other companies after discovering their dirty secrets as the Dark Knight.

** Played straight with his daughter Asami when she assumes control over the company. She's one of the main heroes and makes great strides in rebuilding the city after the events of season 2.
** The EccentricMillionaire Varrick from Season 2 initially seems like this; there's some unsavory rumors, and he will resort to bribery to re-rig a KangarooCourt, but he's been a decent ally to Korra nonetheless. [[spoiler:Later on, he proves to have been manipulating the war so that he can potentially profit from it, even secretly bankrupting Future Industries so that he could buy it out from Asami.]] Then he re-appears in season 3 because his new patron believes in second chances. In season 4, he fully fits this trope, [[spoiler:when he refuses to weaponize spirit vine technology due to its dangerous potential, despite how much money he could make off it.]]

''Literature/TeenPowerInc'': Nick’s father runs a prosperous import-export for all kinds of products. While his business rarely gets much attention when (in ''The Case of Crazy Claude'') he learns that one of his associates is a thief, he helps trap the man, spreads word about his untrustworthiness, and helps the victim of the thefts get the money and success that should have been his all along.

Meet a powerful businessperson, who is not willing to profit at the expense of sacrificing their moral principles such as business/social ethics, corporate responsibility, taking care of their employees or protecting the environment (unless the affected party also profits in this manner). Extreme examples may even do so in spite of a great detriment to their business operations and profits.

The question then becomes: if he or she succeeds, then how do they do it without being a predatory "shark"? It could be all that positive public relations messages are translating into repeat customers. Perhaps he's a BenevolentBoss who attracts and retains high quality employees. Maybe his success lies in making every effort to outdo his rivals by providing better products and services than they do. [[SpiritedCompetitor The spirit of competition drives him to excel.]] There's also the possibility that even though the [=HCE=] may be a good person, [[GoodIsNotSoft he still plays hardball]] in his business operations. He might not try to sabotage his competition or cheat his customers, but if he spots a loophole in a contract you sign with him, he will have ''no'' issues using it to maximum effect. Finally, he could stay ahead of the curve [[TheWonka by living on the line between genius and insanity]].

If the honest executive is doing better, it could be because he's a more talented businessman, whereas the less-talented Corrupt exec needs to "cheat" to succeed. It's also possible that the Corrupt executive gets ahead through cheating or otherwise being unethical to achieve more immediate success, but the Honest executive [[CheatersNeverProsper wins in the long run]] because his customers prefer his dependability and/or his [[VillainousDemotivator employees are more motivated.]] In this way the Honest demonstrates the distinction of EnlightenedSelfInterest.

Often (but not necessarily) also a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, UnclePennybags, and/or a BenevolentBoss. If he's part of the minority in his organization that are trying to resist the rest's [[CorruptCorporateExecutive rampant corruption]], he would probably be also an InternalReformist, or a flavor of AntiVillain. If he's [[WhatYouAreInTheDark given the chance to act corrupt]], expect him to say ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules. May teach AnAesop that GoodPaysBetter. He may also be SympatheticSlaveOwner if he does have slaves working for him.

* Mr. Zheng from the ''ComicBook/LeTransperceneige'' prequel comics is a billionaire doomsday preppier intent on using his fortune to make a CoolTrain that preserve the people and culture of Earth in the event of an ecological disaster. He is open and public about what the train is and allows anyone to apply for a place on his train while being judged on merit instead of simply selling seats like his counterparts in other incarnations of the franchise do. Sadly, in the face of the ForegoneConclusion nature of the story, it seems likely that Zheng will either [[FaceHeelTurn take a turn for the sinister]] or be overthrown by someone with less pure intentions.

* ''Film/{{Earthquake}}'': Sam Royce is a scrupulous construction firm owner who only promotes his son in-law because he's competent and not out of nepotism (or so he insists). During the disaster, he works hard to try to get his employees (from his office staff to window washers) to safety regardless of the risks to his life, with mixed success.

* Mr. Clamp from ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch''. He didn't like the idea of the genetic splicing, gives the vampire guy the job he always wanted, etc. ''And'' he helps save the day and builds a nice little suburb. "Clamp Corners, where life slows to a crawl". Reportedly he was originally to be a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive full inversion]], but Creator/JohnGlover was sick of playing villains and went against script.

* ''Film/OtherPeoplesMoney'': Deconstructed. Jorgy is a textbook example of an honest, sincere CEO who looks after his employees and wants to contribute to his community. However, his general decency also leaves him in complete denial about the fact that his company is hilariously unprofitable, and he refuses to make changes or let go of the idea that things will turn around tomorrow if he just keeps gong.

* ''Film/TheSerpentAndTheRainbow'': Mr. Cassedy, TheHero's boss has a slight sarcastic streak, but is ultimately an honest pharmaceutical executive trying to legitimately acquire a powder with genuine medical applications.

* ''Film/{{Tron}}'' universe: Walter Gibbs was more interested in science and development than day-to-day operations of his company. Unfortunately, that gave [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Dillinger]] an opening. [[ExposeTheVillainGetHisJob Flynn]] takes down Dillinger and gets to be one of these. ''Film/TronLegacy'' rolls around and Alan Bradley is crossing this with OnlySaneMan in the Encom boardroom. Fortunately, [[spoiler:Sam did some needed growing up and will be taking his dad's old position after all]].

* ''Literature/AliceAdams'': Mr. Lamb, who has kept Virgil Adams on the payroll throughout his illness, and tells him not to worry about coming back to work before he's ready. And apparently Virgil was pretty much dead weight at the factory even before he got sick, but Mr. Lamb considers Virgil a friend. So he's incensed when Virgil decides to open up a glue factory with the glue formula that he derived while working for Lamb.

* In ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', whatever faults Ebenezer Scrooge has, the book makes clear that being a dishonest businessman is ''not'' one of them. However, the story goes to some length to show that merely being honest does not make him a good person. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come shows him two of his debtors who rejoice in his death, since they know that he would never have let them have the 48 hours more than in the contract that they needed to be able to pay back the loan, but would have taken them to the cleaners instead. Scrooge's fiancée also leaves him because she realizes that he no longer sees their engagement as an emotional affair, but just another deal he has gotten into and now must fulfill to the best of his ability.

** Bernardus Van Dort and his partners provide an interesting example due to starting out as a cabal of WellIntentionedExtremist/ CorruptCorporateExecutive's before becoming this. They built an economic monopoly, and they built it ruthlessly, but they did this to prevent a corrupt government from annexing them [[DividedWeFall if they were economically weak]] and once that threat has passed, try to give back the economic opportunities to those they've exploited up to that point.
* The short story "An Honest Death" by Howard Taylor. A pharmaceutical company has discovered the secret to relatively cheap immortality in the synergy of three of their drugs. They quickly realize they can't profit off this; the second it becomes public knowledge, there will be a massive uproar and the government will be forced to nationalize it. If the company resists, they'll start the worst war in human history. Instead, they hire social engineers and game theorists so that they can "ride the wave" and find a way to profit off the world transitioning to an immortal society. [[OutsideContextProblem And then Death shows up and tells them to stop]].
* [[OnlyOneName Roarke]] in the ''Literature/InDeath'' series is [[Fiction500 one of the wealthiest individuals in the world]], with corporate interests in all kinds of sectors. He started out as a thief and a black marketeer, but by the time the series starts he's gone fully legitimate (when his police detective love interest asks, he remarks with tongue in cheek that he almost wishes he ''did'' still have some dirty business going so that he could give it all up for her sake). He treats his employees well and is quick to put a stop to any unethical shenanigans he discovers going on at the lower levels of his companies; in later books, he founds a shelter for victims of domestic abuse and makes sure that it stays well-funded and staffed by capable, caring people.

* Manex, from the New Apsolon Trilogy in the ''Literature/JediApprentice'' provides a somewhat pragmatic example. He spends most of his page-time as a RedHerring, and he is a bit hedonistic, but he ultimately qualifies for this trope. The writer gives the sense that he chooses to be honest due to feeling that it would be needless and cowardly to stoop to corruption. He supports the reform government, due to personal distaste for the past dictatorship, and due to feeling that his business will actually do better in a free market with a government where people are happy and productive, and the democratic government can inspire the lifting various long-lasting trade embargoes. He also spends much of his page-time providing material aid and advice to the Jedi (especially after [[spoiler:his brother is murdered by the villains]]), although it takes them a long time to completely trust him.

''Literature/TeenPowerInc'': Nick’s father runs a prosperous import-export for all kinds of products. While his business rarely gets much attention when (in''The Case of Crazy Claude'') he learns that one of his associates is a thief, he helps trap the man, spreads word about his untrustworthiness, and helps the victim of the thefts get the money and success that should have been his all along.

* ''Series/Jericho2006'': Season 2 character Trish Merrick is a low-ranking business executive at a thoroughly corrupt company, but is pretty benevolent herself. She tries to help the people of Jericho during her time in town, orders Goetz to put a stop to his embezzling, and fires Goetz (cancelling his protection from prosecution) after he kills Bonnie.

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': In "Murderers' Sky", Adam Chung, the Chinese CEO of a large shipping company, refuses to have his business taken over by a Hong Kong criminal cartel. This leads to two assassination attempts on him... [[spoiler:with the second being the one to end his life]]. Some of them work for AssholeVictim's and try to make things better when their bosses die, while others might be victims themselves, often due to their honesty obstructing a villain's plan.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': A fair number appear (although not as many of as [[CorruptCorporateExecutive]] the other kind).

** Newspaper magnate Walter Revere and his son [[NamedAfterSomeoneFamous Paul]] in ''Deadline for Murder'' fight hard against their new business partners more sensationalist approach to reporting.

* Reeve Tuesti of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is an example of the beleaguered InternalReformist surrounded by CorruptCorporateExecutive types: President Shinra believes in controlling the world [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney with money]], and later his son Rufus prefers ruling through fear. The head of the Science department can only be described as a MadScientist, and the heads of Public Safety (read:military police) and Weapons Development are both [[GeneralRipper General Rippers]]. Reeve himself is the head of Urban Development, not one of the departments that makes the company a great deal of money, and as such he has next to no influence on company policy... [[spoiler:at least until he's ordered to become TheMole in the heroes' party via an animatronic cat he'd built as a hobby, and executes a neat HeelFaceTurn as soon as this is discovered.]]

** First, the easiest way to set up Branch Offices is to be in a Trade Agreement or in TheFederation with the other empire. A history of fair dealings is the easiest way to getting other nations to be willing to trade with you.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pantheon}}'': Chanda, who exposits to several investors how U.I will make the world a brighter place.[[spoiler:Unfortunately, his boss Mr. Prasad is ''not'' this and decides to punish Chanda for going against his plans.]]

* The CEO of {{Creator/Mattel}} from ''Film/Barbie2023'' is first framed as being [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt]] -- he's occasionally rude and patronizing towards employees, postures himself as a feminist but glaringly has very few women in the company's ranks, and is trying to send [[RefugeeFromTVLand Barbie]] back to Barbieland -- but is slowly revealed to overall be a decent man]] who sincerely wants to provide positive entertainment for young girls through ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'', and while his actions in the film are questionable, he's never actually shown doing anything strictly "villainous" in his CEO position, [[AntiVillain with his decisions being from misguided, but sincere concern for the well-being of everyone involved]]. Late in the film, he admits that as an adult man, he only became a corporate suit because his dream of "make little girls happy" is too creepy for literally any other career.

* The CEO of {{Creator/Mattel}} from ''Film/Barbie2023'' is first framed as being [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt]] -- he's occasionally rude and patronizing towards employees, postures himself as a feminist but glaringly has very few women in the company's ranks, and is trying to send [[RefugeeFromTVLand Barbie]] back to Barbieland -- but is slowly revealed to overall be a decent man who sincerely wants to provide positive entertainment for young girls through ''Franchise/{{Barbie}}'', and while his actions in the film are questionable, [[AntiVillain they're evidently born from sincere concern for the well-being of everyone involved]]. Late in the film, he admits that as an adult man, he only became a corporate suit because his dream of "make little girls happy" is too creepy for literally any other career.

*** Lucius Fox, Wayne Enterprises' CEO to Bruce's President, is also an equally honest businessman.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** Bruce Wayne, in his MillionairePlayboy-slash-UnclePennybags persona, especially his Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse version.
** Lucius Fox, Wayne Enterprises' CEO to Bruce's President, is also an equally honest businessman.
** Oliver Queen, aka ComicBook/GreenArrow, started as this before he evolved beyond being a Batman expy.
** UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks story ''Batman and Superman, Swamis Inc." has a struggling industrialist and frequent charity donor consult a psychic (really an undercover Batman) for advice about how to avoid bankruptcy without cheating anyone into buying his worthless business. 

* ComicBook/IronMan: Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Enterprises, is this once he quit being a weapons dealer. Well, [[DependingOnTheWriter in his "better" portrayals]], at least. Issues like his involvement in the events of the ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' series cast doubts on the integrity of his corporate practices. But even as distasteful as weapons manufacturing is to a lot of people, he was a pretty honest guy with those, too. Making for the US Armed forces, not (knowingly) ever providing for terrorists, etc. For instance, in a famous story, "Doomquest," when Stark learned that an underling sold military tech to Doctor Doom, he instantly fired him, refunded Doom's money, tried to prevent Doom's minion from taking the goods anyway, and then personally confronted Doom in his own castle to get them back.
* Likewise, his Avengers teammate, ComicBook/TheWasp: Janet Van Dyne is shown to manage both her own fashion company and her ex-husband's scientific research company with both competence and ethical practices. Her developing skill at this actually aided when she became the Avengers' chairperson, as she applied her business leadership skills to managing the Avengers. [[ComicBook/TheUnstoppableWasp In the 2010s]], she also took to financing her step-daughter's scientific research group, providing research funding to some under-privileged ChildProdigy teens, hiring her friend Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird as a mentor/protector to them, and hiring petty supervillains Poundcakes and Letha of the Grapplers as security in order to give them financial incentive to stay clear of criminal activity.
* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Vivian and Constance D'Aramis (who have the CollectiveIdentity as the hero Crimson Fox) run their perfume company ethically and first started it to be an honest competitor to the CorruptCorporateExecutive who killed their parents, in order to drive him out of business and expose him for who he was.
* Mr. Zheng from the ''ComicBook/LeTransperceneige'' prequel comics is a billionaire doomsday preppier intent on using his fortune to make a CoolTrain that preserve the people and culture of Earth in the event of an ecological disaster. He is open and public about what the train is and allows anyone to apply for a place on his train while being judged on merit instead of simply selling seats like his counterparts in other incarnations of the franchise do. Sadly, in the face of the ForegoneConclusion nature of the story, it seems likely that Zheng will either [[FaceHeelTurn take a turn for the sinister]] or be overthrown by someone with less pure intentions.

* In most ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' stories (and especially more recent ones), J. Jonah Jameson ultimately falls into this trope. As DaEditor of ''The Daily Bugle'', he's gruff, short-tempered, and makes absolutely no secret of his outright hatred for the webslinger. But in addition to being a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold good guy deep down]], he's also unflinchingly moral. J.J. always protects his sources (to the point of being jailed at least twice for doing so), is one of the only media moguls in the city who [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules refuses to be bought out]] by ComicBook/TheKingpin, and openly supports mutant rights in an era when [[FantasticRacism anti-"mutie" sentiment]] is rampant.[[note]]His problem with superheroes is that he hates masked vigilantism, not that he holds their powers against them.[[/note]] Earlier incarnations showed him as more amoral and obsessed in taking down Spider-Man (for example, he funded the research that turned Mac Gargan into the Scorpion), but as CharacterDevelopment kicked in, he gradually evolved into this trope--to the point of fighting off demons when the ''Bugle's'' offices were overrun during an attack from Hell.

The question then becomes: if he or she succeeds, then how does they do it without being a predatory "shark"? It could be all that positive public relations messages are translating into repeat customers. Perhaps he's a BenevolentBoss who attracts and retains high quality employees. Maybe his success lies in making every effort to outdo his rivals by providing better products and services than they do. [[SpiritedCompetitor The spirit of competition drives him to excel.]] There's also the possibility that even though the [=HCE=] may be a good person, [[GoodIsNotSoft he still plays hardball]] in his business operations. He might not try to sabotage his competition or cheat his customers, but if he spots a loophole in a contract you sign with him, he will have ''no'' issues using it to maximum effect. Finally, he could stay ahead of the curve [[TheWonka by living on the line between genius and insanity]].

* ''Film/JurassicPark'': John Hammond truly believes in his vision of a theme park with real-life dinosaurs. He doesn't like the [[EvilLawyerJoke blood-sucking lawyer]] and, when convinced that his park can never be made safe, abandons it. (Note that this was changed from [[Literature/JurassicPark the book]], where he was more on the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive corrupt]] side of corporate executives, and it's one of the few changes to the book everyone agreed was for the better.)

** Bruce Wayne, in his MillionairePlayboy-slash-UnclePennybags persona, especially his Franchise/{{DCAU}} version.

Whether the Honest Corporate Executive is actually TruthInTelevision is a hotly debated issue. For every story that seemingly validates it for some, there are horror stories of [=CEOs=] who deforest the state, drain/pollute an entire watershed, lay off thousands of long-serving employees, have terrible working conditions and minimum wages, and even foster widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them. So Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

Whether the Honest Corporate Executive is actually TruthInTelevision is a hotly debated issue. For every story that seemingly validates it for some, there are horror stories of [=CEOs=] who deforest the state, drain/pollute an entire watershed, lay off thousands of long-serving employees, have terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and do even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them. So Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

Meet a powerful businessperson, who is not willing to profit at the expense of sacrificing their moral principles such as business/social ethics, corporate responsibility, or protecting the environment (unless the affected party also profits in this manner). Extreme examples may even do so in spite of great detriment to their business operations.

The question then becomes: if he succeeds, then how does he do it? It could be all that positive PR translating into repeat customers. Perhaps he's a BenevolentBoss who attracts and retains high quality employees. Maybe his success lies in making every effort to outdo his rivals by providing better products and services than they do. [[SpiritedCompetitor The spirit of competition drives him to excel.]] There's also the possibility that even though the [=HCE=] may be a good person, [[GoodIsNotSoft he still plays hardball]] in his business operations. He might not try to sabotage his competition or cheat his customers, but if he spots a loophole in a contract you sign with him, he will have ''no'' issues using it to maximum effect. Finally, he could stay ahead of the curve [[TheWonka by living on the line between genius and insanity]].

If the Honest executive is doing better, it could be because he's a more talented businessman, whereas the less-talented Corrupt exec needs to "cheat" to succeed. It's also possible that the Corrupt executive gets ahead through cheating or otherwise being unethical to achieve more immediate success, but the Honest executive [[CheatersNeverProsper wins in the long run]] because his customers prefer his dependability and/or his [[VillainousDemotivator employees are more motivated.]] In this way the Honest demonstrates the distinction of EnlightenedSelfInterest.

Whether the Honest Corporate Executive is actually TruthInTelevision is a hotly debated issue. For every story that seemingly validates it for some, there are horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them. So Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

Often (but not necessarily) also a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, UnclePennybags, and/or a BenevolentBoss. If he's part of the minority in his organization that are trying to resist the rest's [[CorruptCorporateExecutive rampant corruption]], he would probably be also an InternalReformist, or a flavor of AntiVillain. If he's [[WhatYouAreInTheDark given the chance to act corrupt]], expect him to say ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules. May teach AnAesop that GoodPaysBetter.

Whether the Honest Corporate Executive is actually TruthInTelevision is a [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment hotly debated issue]]. For every story that seemingly validates it for some, there are horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them. So Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'', Winston comes across as a well-intentioned proponent of getting Supers legalized again and is willing to devote the resources of his telecommunications company to that goal. While there were points in the story that implied Winston was secretly the villain, it turns out he actually was completely honest about his beliefs and bravely risks his life to help save the day.

Whether this is actually true is a [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment hotly debated issue]]. For every story that seemingly validates it for some, there are horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them. So Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.

Whether this is actually true is a [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment hotly debated issue]]. For every story that seemingly validates it for some, there are horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them.

As of the second half of TheNewTens, the Honest Corporate Executive is on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope as more and more horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them--are being exposed at numerous big name corporations and confirmed to have existed for years, if not decades. More recent generations are gradually [[CapitalismIsBad losing faith in capitalism altogether]], and the [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives questioning of business executives and their integrity]] is becoming increasingly common.

** Bruce Wayne, in his RichIdiotWithNoDayJob-slash-MillionairePlayboy-slash-UnclePennybags persona, especially his Franchise/{{DCAU}} version.

As of the second half of TheNewTens, the Honest Corporate Executive is on its way to becoming a DiscreditedTrope as more and more horror stories of terrible working conditions, minimum wages, and even widespread sexual harassment--with executives more inclined to defend these practices than do much about them--are being exposed at numerous big name corporations and confirmed to have existed for years, if not decades. More recent generations are gradually [[CapitalismIsBad losing faith in capitalism altogether]], and the belief that [[ThereAreNoGoodExecutives there is no such thing as an honest executive]] is becoming more standard.