Phil Wahba

Phil Wahba is a senior writer at Fortune with a focus on leadership coverage and retail. He has written award-winning features, including profiles of CEOs at J.C. Penney and Kohl's, and an examination of how private equity transformed the retail sector. Wahba is also a co-chair of Fortune Connect, a membership program for the next generation of executives. He joined Fortune in 2014 from Reuters, where he covered retail, corporate bankruptcies, stock exchanges, and wrote a weekly column about IPOs. Wahba has worked as a trade commissioner in New York for the Canadian government and holds a B.Comm from HEC Montréal and an MBA from the University of Ottawa. He graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in Journalism in 2007 and is a CFA charterholder. Wahba speaks native French, English, Danish, Spanish, and German. He has run a marathon in every U.S. state.

Biography:  https://fortune.com/author/phil-wahba/

54%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermines the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
Analysis.OverallConflictOfInterestScore * 0.3F + Analysis.OverallBiasScore * 0.3F + Analysis.DeceptivenessScore * 0.3F + Analysis.ReadabilityScore * 0.1F

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

The Daily's Verdict

This author has a mixed reputation for journalistic standards. It is advisable to fact-check, scrutinize for bias, and check for conflicts of interest before relying on the author's reporting.

Bias

20%

Examples:

  • Calling Tractor Supply's reversal a 'massive victory' and 'the single biggest boycott win of our lifetime.'
  • The large retailer of farming supplies was pressured into changing its stance on diversity-focused positions and goals.

Conflicts of Interest

90%

Examples:

  • Phil Wahba is a co-chair of Fortune Connect, a membership program for the next generation of executives. He has also worked as a trade commissioner in New York for the Canadian government and holds positions such as CFA charterholder.

Contradictions

60%

Examples:

  • The retailer announced it would 'no longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign', one of the biggest LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in the United States. With comparable sales stagnant, Tractor Supply's growth will have to come from new stores in more-diverse exurbs rather than redder, rural regions.
  • Tractor Supply operates over 2,200 stores across the United States, primarily in rural areas. The retailer was founded in the 1930s to serve working farms, but now caters to hobbyist farmers and suburbanites with larger properties who love gardening and dabble in livestock.
  • Tractor Supply recently reversed its stance on diversity-focused positions and goals

Deceptions

40%

Examples:

  • Sales stall
  • The statement that Tractor Supply's growth will come from more-diverse exurbs rather than redder, rural regions may be misleading as it implies the company is abandoning rural areas for diverse ones.

Recent Articles

Tractor Supply Eliminates Diversity Roles and Retires DEI Goals Amid Controversy

Tractor Supply Eliminates Diversity Roles and Retires DEI Goals Amid Controversy

Broke On: Sunday, 30 June 2024 Tractor Supply Company, ranked No. 32 on the National Retail Federation's Top 100 retailer list, has eliminated DEI roles, retired current DEI goals, and stopped submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign following criticism from customers and conservative activists. The controversy sparked an uproar from other customers and advocacy groups.