Nature Is Healing: Most S&P100 Companies Dump DEI Criteria From Board Selection
Bloomberg News, citing an ESGAUGE report, says 61 S&P 100 companies have removed explicit diversity requirements from director-selection policies, reversing a prior trend. The article names Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Starbucks, and Wells Fargo among firms that eliminated references to gender, race, ethnicity, and underrepresented groups.
How this was made

The 30-second read
Why it matters
It suggests a broad governance retreat from explicit DEI criteria, but provides no company filings, dates, or quantified financial consequences.
Market read
Traders may monitor proxy-season and ESG-rating reactions, but this article alone does not provide new, filing-backed catalysts or financial guidance.
What to watch
Key missing details include whether companies changed actual director-selection processes, whether diversity goals moved to non-explicit criteria, and whether any formal proxy disclosures or regulatory guidance drove the changes.
Background
The article claims a Bloomberg-cited ESGAUGE report found 61 S&P 100 companies removed explicit diversity requirements from director-selection policies.
Ticker impact
Article says Apple removed explicit diversity requirements from its director-selection policies, citing an ESGAUGE report covering 61 S&P 100 firms.
Low near-term impact; any move would likely be sentiment-driven around governance headlines.
The piece is based on a reported policy change without quantified financial consequences, guidance, or regulatory action.
Article lists Alphabet as one of the S&P 100 companies that eliminated explicit diversity provisions from board-selection criteria.
Limited immediate price impact; watch for proxy-season and investor-relations follow-through.
No new filings, deadlines, or enforcement details are included, only a reported removal of explicit criteria.
Article states Amazon is among companies that removed explicit diversity requirements from director-selection policies, per Bloomberg-cited ESGAUGE data.
Negligible to low impact unless accompanied by formal proxy disclosures or investor actions.
The article does not cite specific board policy language changes in a filing or link to financial performance.
Article names Starbucks as having eliminated explicit diversity provisions from board-selection criteria in the reported reversal.
Low impact absent concrete proxy/filing details; any reaction likely headline-driven.
The claim is descriptive and does not provide new, verifiable corporate actions beyond the reported count.
Article says Wells Fargo removed explicit diversity requirements from director-selection policies, citing the same ESGAUGE report.
Minimal near-term price effect; potential longer-term effect via proxy voting and ESG scoring.
No quantified impact, enforcement, or new corporate guidance is included.
Market effects
If accurate, the reported rollback of explicit board diversity criteria could shift ESG governance norms across large-cap US equities, affecting proxy-voting and ESG-rating narratives.
Primarily US large-cap governance sentiment; could influence how US investors frame ESG policy changes.
Limited direct global impact, but may affect multinational ESG expectations and cross-border governance comparisons.
Counterpoint
The article’s framing is ideological and may overstate causality; removing explicit wording does not necessarily reduce diversity outcomes or change board composition.
Key entities
- research_firmESGAUGE
Research firm cited as the source of the count of S&P 100 companies removing explicit diversity requirements.
- media_sourceBloomberg News
Cited as reporting the ESGAUGE findings.
- indexS&P 100
Universe referenced for the reported governance-policy changes.


