A lot of CEOs have terrible taste in literature, and some of them like Ayn Rand a great deal. A few of those are true-believing libertarians and there’s the odd nutty Objectivist, but many people are attracted to Rand not because of her politics but because they have heroic conceptions of themselves and thrill to Rand’s heroic aesthetic.
There’s just something about executives and celebrities. Mark Cuban is a fan of The Fountainhead, and Angelina Jolie sings the praises of Atlas Shrugged. Eva Mendes is an admirer of Barack Obama’s, but she says she won’t date a man who isn’t a Rand fan. Billie Jean King isn’t what you’d call an arch conservative, but she’s a Rand fan. It might be related to working in dramatically competitive enterprises.
