In 1937, the head of IBM Thomas Watson received the Order of the German Eagle from Adolf Hitler. The occasion was the annual congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, hosted in Berlin. Watson had done good business with the Nazis. Like other global businesspeople during the years between the seizure of power and the invasion of Poland, Watson felt that Hitler was a nationalist – but one that could be worked with.

A dark parallel with these events emerged on social media last week, when a photo of Watson in Berlin was paired with a picture taken at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, showing recently elected Brazilian strongman Jair Bolsonaro seated between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Another shot showed Bolsonaro posing with Tony Blair.