Left-wing activists and Democratic politicians are bullying corporations.
And the companies are responding by catering to the left.
But a major investor just gave Disney a stern warning about one destructive policy.
“Woke” capitalism is one of the worst developments to take hold over the past few years.
Companies are going out of their way to pander to a niche audience and ignoring the majority of customers.
One of the worst culprits is Disney, which began as a company based on family values.
Now Disney fully embraces “wokeness” at the detriment of its bottom line.
But Vivek Ramaswamy, co-founder of Strive Asset Management, is attempting to combat the globalist asset management firms that promote ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies.
ESG scores determine how well a company is adhering to political metrics like DIE (diversity, inclusivity, and equity) goals and environmental initiatives.
In other words, companies are being nudged to make themselves less profitable in pursuit of some left-wing agenda.
Ramaswamy and Strive are fighting back by encouraging companies to veer away from ESG policies that financially hurt investors.
Ramaswamy wrote in a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, “Over the last year, the Walt Disney Company’s public approval rating plummeted from 77% to 33%, an unprecedented collapse following Disney’s public embrace of controversial political positions in deference to social activists. Strive Asset Management recently became a shareholder of Disney. On behalf of our clients, we write to ask your board a fundamental question: how do Disney’s politicized behaviors advance the economic interests of Disney’s stockholders? We believe they do not, and we respectfully suggest that Disney rectify its missteps ahead of next spring’s proxy voting season.”
By marshaling the votes of investors who are not on board with the ESG agenda, Strive can potentially claw back the damage done by major firms cramming ESG down the throats of everyone.
Ramaswamy continued, “Today the three largest passive asset managers in the world – BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard – manage over $20 trillion, approximately equal to the total U.S. gross domestic product. In 2022, these firms were Disney’s top 3 shareholders. By contrast, the actual owners of Disney are not BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard – or, for that matter, Strive. Disney’s actual owners are the clients of these institutions: everyday citizens whose capital is invested in passively managed index funds. You owe a fiduciary duty to the actual owners of Disney, not to the institutions who claim to represent them.”
Ramaswamy and his company are attempting to restore balance in the market so companies like Disney stop catering to globalist interest over the concerns of everyday investors.
And while Disney veers away from its core mission, the company has shown more fight against Americans than against the Chinese Communist Party.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis explained, “I also think that you have companies like a Disney that are gonna say and criticize parents’ rights, they’re gonna criticize the fact that we don’t want transgenderism in kindergarten and first grade classrooms. If that’s the hill that they’re gonna die on, then how do they possibly explain lining their pockets with their relationship from the Communist Party of China? Because that’s what they do, and they make a fortune and they don’t say a word about the really brutal practices that you see over there at the hands of the CCP.”
Companies like Disney are being steered by all the wrong people.