Study Finds S&P 500 Firms Keeping DEI Matched Rivals After Trump's 2025 Orders
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 14
Study Finds S&P 500 Firms Keeping DEI Matched Rivals After Trump's 2025 Orders
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 14
Summary
New research shared Friday found S&P 500 companies that kept DEI policies performed as well as peers that rolled them back after Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive orders.
Jacob Grumbach of UC Berkeley measured “abnormal returns” to isolate the market impact and said firms that maintained DEI—or defeated anti-DEI shareholder resolutions—showed no financial penalty, with some outperforming in the days after the orders.
Costco, Apple and Delta Air Lines were cited among companies that held firm, while Google, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s and Walmart were among those that announced pullbacks under political and legal pressure.
The findings challenge the “go woke, go broke” narrative that gained force after 2023 boycotts and the Supreme Court’s affirmative-action ruling, suggesting large US companies still had room to resist executive pressure without hurting results.