Costco Shareholders Reject Anti-DEI Proposal, Spark Backlash

Despite several major companies like Walmart rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Costco shareholders have overwhelmingly opted to keep theirs in place. Per Axios, more than 98% of the company’s shareholders shot down a proposed anti-DEI initiative. 

The anti-DEI proposal was filed by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which describes itself as “a non-partisan, free-market, independent, conservative think tank.” The block didn’t come as a huge surprise as the retail giant’s chairman and other board members had already encouraged members not to support it.

Costco chairman Hamilton “Tony” James said of their DEI initiatives, “We owe our success to the more than 300,000 employees who serve our members every day. It is important that they all feel included and appreciated and that they transmit these values to our customers.” 

Meanwhile, Ethan Peck from the NCPPR argued in a prerecorded message that DEI is “illegal, immoral and detrimental to shareholder value ” and poses litigation risks for the company, according to USA Today.

“By not hiring and promoting completely irrespective of race and sex ‒ in other words, by merit alone ‒ the company is not always hiring or promoting the best person for the job, and anything short of that is selling the success in the future of the company short, and therefore selling shareholders short,” Peck said in the message.

This vote was decided just days after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump issued executive orders targeting DEI practices in government agencies. One EO purged DEI from the Department of the Interior, one of the wokest agencies in the federal government, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

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All DEI offices within the federal government closed down, and employees were put on leave this week as the first step toward mass layoffs.

This puts Costco in opposition to what’s happening in the government and other private companies. Social media users were quick to call out their continued embrace of DEI.

“Costco is refusing to end DEI practices. It’s time to Bud Light Costco!” one X user said, referring to the successful boycott of the beer brand in 2023.

“It’s immoral and illegal for any employer—including Costco—to discriminate on the basis of race,” another user observed.