Apple shareholders vetoed a proposal this week that would have eliminated the company’s DEI policy, standing in stark contrast from its technology counterparts that have recently rolled back inclusion policies, including Meta and Google.
An overwhelming 97.3% of shareholders rejected the proposal on Tuesday, which was introduced by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. The proposal requested that Apple cease its DEI efforts, citing the risk of “litigation, reputational, and financial risks” to the company. Ahead of the vote, the company urged shareholders to vote against the proposal, arguing that it “inappropriately restricts Apple’s ability to maintain its own business operations” and that the company already has a “well established compliance program” that regularly assesses legal and regulatory risks.
The vote sparked outrage from the right. President Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday that “APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM. DEI WAS A HOAX THAT HAS BEEN VERY BAD FOR OUR COUNTRY. DEI IS GONE!!!”
A spokesperson from the National Center for Public Policy Research told Fortune that “Apple's management has a duty to maximize shareholder value and our proposal is consistent with that duty. The fact that possibly biased, conflicted, or misled shareholders disagree with us doesn't make us wrong.”
Apple’s shareholder proposal rejection comes about a month after a similar vote at Costco, in which shareholders overwhelmingly defeated an anti-DEI proposal put forward by the NCPPR. Apple’s decision to stand by its DEI practices, and its most recent shareholder proposal win, sets it apart in a sector that has sought to distance itself from the diversity commitments. Meta, Google, and Amazon have all recently announced that they would be dropping their diverse hiring goals.
“Now [Apple] looks a lot better than Meta and Google and all these other Silicon Valley players,” Alison Taylor, clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business, tells Fortune. “I think that’s a pretty neat move from the points of view of talent management and talent attraction.”
But the latest DEI win at Apple doesn’t mean that the company’s diversity policies will remain untouched moving forward. Following the shareholder vote on Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook warned that the company may “need to make some changes to comply” as the legal landscape around DEI changes.
Cook emphasized, however, that the company is “committed to the values that have always made us who we are" and that its strength comes from a culture where “people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives come together.”
