More on the anti-ESG shareholder proposals that mimic pro-ESG proposals.

At Apple’s March 10 shareholder meeting, there were five shareholder proposals. All were voted down, including the “Civil Rights and Non-Discrimination Audit Proposal,” which failed by a better than 70-to-1 voting margin.

Despite its seemingly neutral title, the proposal questioned whether Apple’s diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs should exist at all. 

The loss doesn’t bother the National Center for Public Policy’s Free Enterprise Project, the conservative shareholder activism organization behind the proposal. The group didn’t expect a win. Its proposal is part of a long game—not just for the National Center but more broadly activists on the right, who are adopting the shareholder proposal strategies effectively built and used by groups on the left for decades. Their goal is to eventually achieve the complete end not only of DEI, but all environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, of which DEI is just a part. 

Apple DEI Efforts Are a Target of Activist Shareholder Proposals | Observer