Apple’s board recommended that shareholders reject DEI’s rollback proposal

Fitz-Gerald Group Chief Investment Officer Keith Fitz-Gerald looks at Apple and why Palantir stock is on track for $100 per share in Varney & Co.

Apple’s board of directors urged shareholders to reject a proposal that would force the company to end its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, arguing that the move would be “unnecessary.”

The iPhone maker The defense of its DEI programs comes as several major corporations are pulling back on so-called “woke” initiatives after a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action and amid public pressure from activists.

Ticker	security	last	change	% change
AAPL	APPLE INC.	236.85	-5.85	-2.41%

A proxy filing released ahead of Apple’s 2025 annual meeting shows that the National Center for Public Policy Research, a free-market think tank and activist shareholder, had proposed that Apple abandon its DEI efforts, saying that these programs put the company at greater risk of being sued for discrimination

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But Apple recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal, saying it was “unnecessary as Apple already has a well-established compliance program and the proposal seeks to inappropriately restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own operations commercial, people and teams, and business strategies.

Panelists Jennifer Sey and Daniel Cameron discuss how big business is rolling back DEI and environmental, social and government programs in “The Bottom Line.”

DEI often involves prioritizing race, gender or sexuality in hiring, training and programming, and the initiatives have been criticized by conservatives as divisive and discriminatory. DEI advocates say these efforts address racial divides and support groups that have historically been marginalized.

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DEI’s policies have faced increased scrutiny over the past year, leading at least a dozen major U.S. companies and hundreds of universities to reverse those commitments, including Walmart, Meta and Ford.

Ticker	security	last	change	% change
WMT	WALMART INC.	93.00	+1.20	+1.31%
TARGET	META PLATFORMS INC.	615.86	+5.14	+0.84%
F	FORD MOTOR CO.	9.65	-0.09	-0.92%

But Apple isn’t the only one firmly behind its DEI efforts. Most of the largest companies in the United States still have these programs in place, and Costco recently did as well defended its DEI policies while urging its own shareholders to reject a proposal that would end them.