DEI comes and goes but profits are forever

A prominent group of chief executives said almost six years ago that making profits for shareholders was only part of their business — and not necessarily the main part.

- Jeff Sommer

Speaking collectively as the Business Roundtable, CEOs from companies like Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, Wells Fargo and Amazon said that, really, they were devoted to serving employees and customers, protecting the environment and treating suppliers ethically.

"Thank you," I wrote in a column back then. "And may I sell you a bridge?"

Now that many firms are muting their commitments to programmes embracing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and to environmental sustainability, I can't say I'm shocked.

The Trump administration has declared DEI to be "illegal" and "immoral". It has derided efforts to ensure "sustainability" and stave off climate change as misguided undertakings that are only weakening America. Faced with the administration's threats of litigation and investigation, corporate America is, to a large extent, bending with the political wind. My colleagues, at The New York Times and other news organisations, have been documenting the retreat on these issues by countless companies, including Target, Meta, Google, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock and Vanguard.

The spectacle of corporations changing their posture in waves, like groves of saplings in a storm, may seem startling.

But corporations have always done this. What we're seeing now is an accelerated version. In fact, it's what Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman, a high priest of conservative, free-market ideology, said they should do.

The late Mr. Friedman chose to explain his views in The New York Times Magazine to a broad swathe of Americans, including many who were not entirely comfortable with right-wing political beliefs.