Good morning!
If you’re reading this newsletter, you’ve probably already heard of Robby Starbuck.
He’s the right-wing activist who made headlines this summer by calling out companies on social media, including John Deere, Tractor Supply, and Harley Davidson, in an effort to get them to roll back their DEI policies. Starbuck’s central argument is that those companies should not be spending customers’ money on what he sees as left-wing causes, and that the workplace should be “neutral.”
Starbuck has become a minor celebrity this year, and his influence is hard to deny. But some DEI advocates I spoke with say that it’s actually less potent than it seems—the companies he’s targeted weren’t stalwart in their policies in the first place, or already had changes in the works before he claimed a victory.
Alphonso David, CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum and a civil rights attorney, points out that in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action last year, and the general DEI backlash of 2024, companies have been scaling back their programs, or talking about them less, for all kinds of reasons. “I think we should be careful not to assume that [Starbuck’s] efforts are actually directly responsible for these changes,” he told me.
Starbuck is also working against popular opinion. The majority of companies still believe in DEI programs, and they’re actually getting more popular among workers. This month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon doubled down on his support for diversity and inclusion efforts, saying: “It’s good for business; it’s morally right; we’re quite good at it; we’re successful.”
Starbuck says he’s unfazed by anyone who questions his role in overturning DEI programs, telling me in a phone call: “We don’t need external validation.”
He added that he had thousands of people sending him reports of DEI policies, and he expects the next company to unveil changes to have a market cap of over $100 billion.
Last week he tweeted: “Good news: Multiple companies flipping on DEI and wokeness this week. Stay tuned!”
You can read more from my story about Robby Starbuck here.
Lila MacLellan
lila.maclellan@fortune.com
Today's edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.
