Episode Details

Live from an ESG-scented 100% cotton unisex onesie, it’s an all-new Terrific Tuesday edition of Business Pants. Joined by Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! On today's anti-anti-DEI lovefest called December 17th 2024: Random ESG Headlines That I Care About Because Somebody Has To Care About Something and Changing the Methodology for Fortune 100 Most Powerful Executives!

Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE.

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Random ESG Headlines That I Care About Because Somebody Has To Care About Something:

Walmart is the 2024 Yahoo Finance Company of the Year

The legacy retailer, once seen as slow to adopt technology as Amazon (AMZN) rose to the forefront, has quietly invested in everything from artificial intelligence and augmented reality to same-day delivery and cheap groceries. The combo punch has led to nearly four quarters of record earnings — and a title as Yahoo Finance's annual Company of the Year award winner.

A committee of Yahoo Finance editorial leaders selected Walmart because of its strong year of sales and profits, financial outperformance relative to key rivals like Target (TGT), and a stock price that has reached fresh records in 2024.

Another unknown is the impact of Walmart's Nov. 26 decision to scale back its DEI work amid right-wing pressure. The decision came a few days after our interviews with McMillon and Rainey, at which time Walmart had already secured its Yahoo Finance Company of the Year recognition.

In a Dec. 2 phone call with Yahoo Finance, Walmart's chief people officer, Donna Morris, defended the company's choice:

"We are the exact same company today as we were last week, and we will continue to be the same company," Morris said. "We act with integrity, we serve our customers and our members, and we strive for excellence. So our values are absolutely not changing."

"Our values are absolutely not changing, the specific initiatives or terms, they change over time," she continued. The company started moving to "belonging" in early 2023, though Morris said the move wasn't due to pressure from any specific group.

"When you talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, all in part, there can be communities, and often the largest communities, that step back and say, 'Geez, I'm not sure if I'm even actually included'," Morris explained of the decision.

After Floyd's murder, a "majority" of companies felt the need to boost their DEI efforts, but now they are reevaluating. "What we observed and felt was really important is that everyone was part of that work, and that's why we really made the shift," Morris said.

‘A huge regression’: Walmart’s DEI rollback incites new racial equity push

A year after the murder of George Floyd, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart had a warning for corporate Ame