Apple shareholders have thrown their support behind the company’s diversity policies in defiance of Donald Trump and despite a wider retreat across Silicon Valley.
A majority of shareholders at the technology giant’s annual meeting on Tuesday voted against a proposal calling for Apple to abolish its inclusion and diversity programme.
Apple had urged shareholders to oppose the motion, which had been put forward by US conservative group the National Centre for Public Policy Research (NCPPR).
Other major tech companies, including Meta, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, have backtracked on diversity schemes in recent months amid political pressure to cut down on the initiatives.
Donald Trump has vowed to name and shame “woke companies” that continue to run diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes. He signed an executive order last month vowing to “combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences”.
The president has also sought to cut funding for companies that employ diversity programmes, as well as eliminating them in the US government. Google said earlier this month it was cancelling DEI programmes in part due to the Trump administration’s new rules for federal contractors.
Meta removed its DEI schemes days before Mr Trump’s inauguration, saying: “The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing”.
The NCPPR’s shareholder resolution criticised Apple’s diversity programmes, which include a “supplier diversity” scheme, employing a vice-president of inclusion and diversity and giving money to organisations to promote DEI schemes.
It argued that “DEI poses litigation, reputational and financial risks to companies and therefore financial risks to their shareholders, and therefore further risks to companies for not abiding by their fiduciary duties”.
It had said thousands of Apple employees were potentially “victims of this type of discrimination”.
Some companies have said that a Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in US colleges will make their diversity schemes vulnerable to legal challenges.
However, Apple said that it had a “well-established compliance programme” and said NCPPR’s motion “inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary business operations”.
“We believe that how we conduct ourselves is as critical to Apple’s success as making the best products in the world,” it added.
The company said a majority of shareholders had rejected the proposal, without revealing how many.
Shareholders at the bulk buy retailer Costco rejected a similar NCPPR proposal last month.
