No One Elected Woke CEOs

Woke corporate CEOs seem to think they know better than voters what’s best for the country. These titans are throwing their companies’ clout and cash behind activists pushing gender-fluidity lessons for kindergarteners and other extreme political causes.

Expect this corporate activism to backfire. Corporations should be serving their customers, not trying to override the democratic process, like thousand-pound gorillas undoing what the electorate—including their own customers—wants.

Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek declared his opposition Friday to a Florida state bill that bans instruction for children in grades K-3 about choosing their sexual orientation. The bill also bars teachers from coaching children behind their parents’ backs on the issue.

Vowing to defend the “basic human rights” of the LGBTQ+ community, Chapek pledged $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign. Even that whopping amount of protection money wasn’t sufficient.

The next night, at its annual Hollywood-studded gala, the Human Rights Campaign removed Disney’s name from the corporate sponsors list. Its interim president, Joni Madison, spelled out the extortion: Disney’s money won’t be accepted until the company “puts real muscle” behind killing the Florida bill and others like it.

That’s what Hollywood thinks is good for America. But Florida voters, who elected the state’s lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis, disagree.

DeSantis says he won’t back down on his commitment to “parental rights” under pressure from “woke corporations.”

Something similar is happening in Texas, where 65 corporations—including IBM, Capital One, and Apple—signed a letter in The Dallas Morning News written by the Human Rights Campaign opposing Gov. Greg Abbott’s investigation of instances where young children are being treated for transitioning. Abbott is concerned that youngsters and their parents may be misled into treatments that prove irreversible later.

“I thought shareholders elected CEOs.”

Shareholders elect the board of directors, The board of directors hires the CEO.

Most individual stockholders vote for the slate of board directors proposed by the company. Therefore the real power is in the people responsible for nominating the directors. The CEO, and current members of the board of directors choose the slate running in consultation with the top shareholders. Look at the list of the top five institutional shareholders and you will see where the power lies. Vanguard, Blackrock , State Street, Fidelity.

Signed:

23andMe
2U, Inc.
Accenture
Acxiom LLC
The Adecco Group
Adobe Inc.
Advance Auto Parts
AEO Inc.
Affirm
Airbnb
AllianceBernstein
Ally
Altria Group Inc.
Amalgamated Bank
Amazon
American Airlines
American Express
American Honda Motor Company
Amgen, Inc.
Anaplan
Apple
Applied Materials, Inc.
Arcadis U.S. Inc.
Asana, Inc.
AT&T
Atlassian
Autodesk
Baker Tilly US
BASF Corporation
Bayer US LLC
BBVA USA
BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe)
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.
Berkshire Bank
Biogen
Block, Inc. (Formerly Square, Inc.)
Bloomberg LP
Boehringer Ingelheim USA
Boston Scientific
Bounteous
Box, Inc.
Bright Health Group
Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Brown-Forman Corporation
Capital One
Cardinal Health
Cargill
Cargo Transporters, Inc.
Celanese
Center for Community Self-Help
Chobani
Citigroup Inc.
CNA Insurance
The College Board
Compass
Corning Incorporated
CSAA Insurance Group
Curology
CVS Health
Dechert LLP
Deckers Brands (UGG, HOKA, Teva, Sanuk and Koolaburra by UGG)
Dell Technologies
Deutsche Bank USA Corp.
Dow Inc.
Dropbox Inc.
DWS Investments
Early Warning Services, LLC
Eastern Bank
Elanco Animal Health
Electronic Arts
EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Electronics
Equinix
Equitable
Facebook
FactSet Research Systems Inc.
Fastly
Flexport, Inc.
GAP, Inc
Gearbox
General Mills
GitHub
GoDaddy
Google
GP Strategies Corporation
Gusto
H&M
The Hartford
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
HP Inc.
Hilton
HSBC Bank USA
Hyatt
IBM Corp.
ICM Partners
IHG Hotels & Resorts
IHS Markit
IKEA
Included Health
Instacart
Intel
Interpublic Group
Intuit
Invitae Corporation
Johnson & Johnson
Kellogg Company
The Knot Worldwide
The Kraft Heinz Company
LegalZoom
Levi Strauss & Co.
Lexmark International, Inc.
LinkedIn
Lululemon
Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
Lyft, Inc.
Macy's, Inc
Mailchimp
Marriott International, Inc.
Mars, North America
Marsh McLennan
MassMutual
Mattel, Inc.
Medtronic
MetLife, Inc.
Micron
Microsoft
Mobilize
MolsonCoors
Momentive
Mondelez International
New Belgium Brewing
NextRoll, Inc.
Nike, Inc.
Nordstrom, Inc.
Nuance Communications
Okta
Oracle Corporation
Patagonia
Patreon
PayPal
PepsiCo
Peloton Interactive, Inc.
Pinterest
Pfizer
PNC Financial Services Group
PwC
Randstad US
Royal Bank of Canada
RedFin Real Estate
Red Hat, Inc.
REI Co-op
Salesforce
SAP
Shipt, Inc.
Shutterstock
Signet Jewelers
Silicon Labs
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Starbucks
State Street Corporation
SunLife
Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, including member companies Danone North America; Mars, Incorporated; Nestlé USA; and Unilever United States
Symetra Life Insurance Company
Synchrony Financial
T-Mobile
Target
TD SYNNEX
TechNet
Teva Pharmaceuticals
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Tinuiti, Inc
Trane Technologies
Trillium Asset Management
TriNet Group, Inc.
Tripadvisor
Twitter Inc.
Uber
UKG
Unilever United States
Union Pacific
United Airlines
Unity
Verizon
VMLY&R
VMware
The Walt Disney Company
Warby Parker
Warner Music Group
Wayside Youth & Family Support Network
WE Communications
Wells Fargo
Workday, Inc.
Xperi Holding Corporation
Xylem
Yahoo
Yelp Inc.
Yext
Ziff Davis
Zillow Group
Zoom Video Communications
Zynga Games

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