DEI pay metrics fade

By rahmat hidayat

Thursday, July 10, 2025

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Sustainable Finance

By Ross Kerber, U.S. Sustainable Business Correspondent

Among the many ways companies are pulling back from socially conscious financial practices is the decline in the use of diversity, equity and inclusion metrics used to set pay for their top executives.

Farient Advisors ran some numbers on the trend for me, which you can read about below. You'll also find links to items on Nestle's chairman and problems at Air India's budget carrier before a terrible crash in June.

Please follow me on LinkedIn and/or Bluesky. If you have a news tip, potential content, or general thoughts you can also email me at ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com

Latest Headlines

Verizon is among the companies moving away from using diversity metrics in setting executive pay. Here Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on June 30. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

U.S. companies back off DEI pay metrics

Tying U.S. executives' pay to corporate diversity metrics was all the rage for a few years. But that's no longer the case as companies respond to pressure from conservative activists and U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, a new review found.

Compensation consulting firm Farient Advisors found the share of S&P 500 companies who said they used diversity, equity and inclusion measures in their executive compensation plans fell to 22%, according to proxy statements filed this year. The figure was 52% last year and hit a peak of 57% in 2023.

Brian Bueno, Farient's Sustainability Practice Leader, expects more companies will follow as executives worry about their exposure to government pressure if they are seen as embracing diversity measures.

You can read my column on the topic by clicking the button below.

Read my column here

Company news

A budget carrier operated by Tata Group's Air India drew a reprimand in March for not changing engine parts of an Airbus A320 in a timely manner and for falsifying records. Air India has been under scrutiny since the June crash of a Boeing plane that killed nearly all aboard.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk mused about starting a new U.S. political party, the "America Party," reigniting concerns about his commitment to the electric carmaker and political risk for investors.
Texas company Fermi, co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and looking to build four nuclear plants in Amarillo, said it is talking with large data managers on leasing agreements for the project.

On my radar

The pending departure of Nestle Chairman Paul Bulcke follows rising investor unease including over the company's share price and concerns that its corporate governance model is out of date, according to our story.
Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations demanded wealthy nations fund the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in poorer nations, speaking at the end of their summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Bankers, lawyers and investors expect activists to push corporations for more leadership changes, operational improvements and spin-offs in the second half of 2025, following an unusually quiet second quarter.

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