More than 98% of Costco shareholders rejected a conservative group’s proposal to evaluate and consider pulling back its efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. It follows a unanimous vote by Costco’s board of directors, urging shareholders to reject the motion.
While large companies like Walmart, McDonald’s and Meta have rolled back or eliminated their diversity programs, Costco has continued its DEI initiatives.
While the motion suggested DEI initiatives posed business risks, the Costco board disagreed.
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“We believe that these efforts enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed,” the board said in its advisory to vote against the proposal.
The motion came from the National Center for Public Policy Research. The group served on the advisory board of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a conservative presidential administration.
President Donald Trump distanced himself from Project 2025. However, he has appointed many of its authors to positions in his administration. In recent days, he has followed its proposals to eliminate DEI programs in federal government departments. The president also encouraged the same at publicly traded companies.
This week, the president signed an executive order authorizing investigations into DEI initiatives at large public corporations. In his order, Trump says the policies violate the text and spirit of longstanding federal civil rights laws. Likewise, the government’s Office of Personnel Management told government agencies to direct their employees to report evidence of any diversity, equity, inclusion or accessibility programs.
Despite Costco’s rejection of the government’s DEI limitations, the company isn’t entirely out of the woods yet.
Ahead of this week’s vote, conservative anti-DEI influencer Robby Starbuck posted to X, “We’ll eventually get to Costco but we will get to them on our timetable. They were not a company we had down to work on early in 2025.”
