Fourteen state treasurers on Wednesday urged the Business Roundtable to reject woke activism and focus on making corporations politically neutral.
The 14 state treasurers, in a letter to the Business Roundtable, argued that the group’s 2019 redefining of the purpose of a corporation to focus on aiding stakeholders, including leftist groups such as Black Lives Matter, has moved corporations leftward.
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“After five years of abject failure, the Business Roundtable’s attempted redefinition of the purpose of a corporation (the ‘Redefinition’) should be discarded into the ‘ash heap of history,’” the state treasurers argued.
They continued, “As treasurers of our respective states, who are responsible for many state and retirement investments, we urge you to abandon the fatally flawed Redefinition to return to the purpose of maximizing value to the owners, your shareholders.”
The Business Roundtable doubled down on their backing of leftist stakeholders in a blog post this month, stating, “In the long term, the interests of a company’s stakeholders are inseparable. No single stakeholder will succeed unless they all do.”
“It was not a call on companies to address every societal challenge, but rather to focus on those who contribute directly to a company’s success. It was the view of Roundtable CEOs that this would make companies more successful in the long run, while advancing broader economic opportunity,” the Business Roundtable wrote.
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The state treasurers wrote that the Business Roundtable’s implicit endorsement of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies resulted in DEI metrics and racial quotas.
The state officials wrote, “A refocus on shareholders would better serve stakeholder employees by hiring and retaining the best candidates, regardless of race. And legal battles would likely disappear.”
“Institutions of all kinds are being pressured to depart from their proper purpose and serve a left-wing ideology. In the case of corporations, doing so harms shareholder value. It is more important than ever to honestly state the purpose of your corporation and your role, and ‘live not by lies,’” the continued.
Daniel Cameron, the CEO of the 1792 Exchange and former attorney general, explained to Breitbart News Daily host Alex Slater how many corporations are abandoning DEI and ESG policies:
We’ve seen Tractor Supply, I want to give a shout out to their CEO, Hal Lawton, we’ve seen John Deere, we’ve seen Harley Davidson, we’ve seen Brown Forman (Jack Daniels), others making a decision, and we see many in the tech space again leading the charge back to the middle on issues like ESG and DEI. They’re getting rid of those DEI policies because they know at the end of the day corporations don’t need to be built on diversity, equity, and inclusion, our corporations need to be built on merit, excellence, and intelligence.
Listen:
Lowe’s also recently changed some of its DEI policies amidst legal attacks on diversity programs and activist pressure.
“An important step you can take is to withdraw your company’s signature from the Redefinition,” the treasurers concluded in their letter to the Business Roundtable. “The next step is for the Business Roundtable to issue an updated document that accurately reflects the purpose of a corporation and remind people about the incredible benefits business provides society, without becoming political promoters or enforcers.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.