I attended Apple’s annual meeting several weeks ago. I saw many signs of how corporate culture is shifting away from ESG and DEI.
To understand why, let’s briefly discuss the basics of how people actually engage with major corporations. Shareholders who own certain thresholds of stock in a publicly-traded company have the right to place proposals on that company’s ballot for consideration at the annual meeting of shareholders. This process allows shareholders not only to make their voices heard at the annual meeting, but often to discuss their concerns directly with company representatives.
In past years, this process was used almost exclusively by the political left and its corporate activist allies — a typical annual meeting agenda would see a slate of proposals urging companies to divest from the oil and gas industry, perpetuate divisive “diversity” policies, or issue statements on social/political issues outside of the company’s core area of focus.
And the center/right? Missing in action, as a recent op-ed from Oklahoma State Treasurer Todd Russ (the first red state to actually step into the shareholder engagement arena) explains:
The activists pushing ESG and DEI into American corporations have been hard at work, and those tasked with defending fiduciary duty, rejecting radical activism, and championing corporate political neutrality have been blind to it.
For years, we lost the corporate engagement war on two fronts: (1) allowing the activism that exists in this space to continue unchecked, and (2) never forging a positive vision of what engaging with companies looks like for people who want those companies out of politics.
But now, slowly, the fortunes of war are changing. And that takes us to Apple.
In past years, the agenda at Apple’s annual meeting has been controlled by pro-ESG activists. A glance at agendas from the years leading up to 2023 reveals proposals asking the company to release unadjusted pay gap data based on race and gender (the lack of adjustment can give the appearance of systemic pay inequality when it doesn’t actually exist) and pressuring the company to reincorporate as a “social purpose corporation.” In 2024, the shareholder agenda was almost evenly split between pro-ESG and anti-ESG proposals.
But the company’s 2025 meeting took place several weeks ago — without a single pro-ESG proposal on the ballot. The four proposals before Apple shareholders were all from ESG/DEI skeptical groups: American Family Association (filed by my firm, Bowyer Research), asked the company to square its lax approach to combating child pornography on its platform with its commitments to user privacy and free speech. Besides our proposal, the National Legal and Policy Center urged Apple to conduct analysis on the greatest reputational and ethical risks of the company’s use of AI. The National Center for Public Policy Research asked Apple to officially terminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. And Inspire Investing petitioned Apple to justify its charitable giving to, and partnerships with, divisive organizations like the Human Rights Campaign (which is currently pushing companies to provide puberty blockers to children as part of their health coverage).
Let’s be clear: although these proposals didn’t pass (relatively few shareholder proposals do), this is a major win. Pro-fiduciary actors have gone from zero representation on corporate ballots to quite literally setting the entire agenda for shareholders — in less than five years. Furthermore, several shareholder proposals got historic levels of support — an incredibly difficult feat when you realize that most proxy advisors (organizations that control the votes of many Apple shareholders) maintain hardline opposition to any proposals aimed at true fiduciary duty and political neutrality.
The company seems to want to pretend that such shareholder concerns don’t exist. But even there, Apple is setting the ground for a potential rollback of its current approach to DEI. CEO Tim Cook admitted that the company “may need to make some changes” to its DEI approach. No kidding — when Apple’s entire shareholder agenda is being set by non-ESG-aligned groups, change is the rational response.
The activist dominance that locked in ESG and DEI at America’s biggest companies years ago is rapidly diminishing. Pro-shareholder actors, ranging from individual investors to multi-billion dollar state pension funds, are stepping into the corporate engagement world, with more joining every day. Per a recent release from the Heritage Foundation, a new member of this pro-shareholder coalition, “Americans have woken up to the reality that their pensions, savings, and investments are being used to push corporate agendas that don’t align with their values… Those who continue to embrace these divisive and discriminatory practices will ultimately face economic consequences.” A recent article in Harvard Law School’s Forum on Corporate Governance reported that “the data does suggest that the anti-ESG movement will continue on and maintain a strong presence in shareholder meetings while possibly expanding reach in the coming years.”
That’s no small feat — it’s a complete shift in momentum. Right-of-center shareholders are realizing how much leverage they’ve been leaving on the table — and it’s been paying off at a variety of major companies, from Chase to PepsiCo. As a corporate engagement professional, I’ll tell you this is a turning point. Companies that claim their leftward drift is a result of only hearing from one side of the political aisle now have to contend with hearing from shareholders of diverse political viewpoints — a key pressure point when it comes to staying politically neutral.
The activist class that pushes for ESG, DEI, and biased corporate policies now has to contend with their worst nightmares: shareholders who want businesses to focus on business, not politics. A growing infrastructure is committed to maximizing pro-fiduciary influence at America’s biggest companies, and the political space is incredibly ripe for this action. Apple is only the beginning.