Corporate America’s most potent adversary is planning a lobbying group for “long-term corporate oversight” of companies’ diversity policies.

Robby Starbuck, who has become a boardroom boogeyman by pressuring companies including Walmart, Lowe’s, and Harley-Davidson to abandon DEI efforts, told Semafor that he plans to formalize his efforts through a lobbying group “to ensure that this never happens again.”

Starbuck said he has gotten a “blank check” offer from at least one big Republican donor. “The catch is: they want the ability to kill stories” — Starbuck said he considers himself a journalist — “and pick targets. And I just don’t work that way.”

In a wide-ranging interview from his farm in Tennessee, Starbuck reflected on his run, which began on X about a year ago and has since forced major changes at at least more than a dozen companies, with a combined market value of more than $2 trillion. His campaigns are targeted and his reach has been amplified by people like Elon Musk — “I’m friendly with Elon,” he says — and right-wing personalities.

His overtures often start with a LinkedIn message to the CEO, and he said he takes seriously the non-disclosure agreements he signs with companies to allow for frank discussions. How frank? “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard [CEOs] say, ’No way, we’re not doing that… and then, ‘Oh, crap, we’re doing that.’”

Starbuck said he’s advised some agency heads as they look to comply with a directive from the White House to identify DEI “worst offenders.” But he said he wouldn’t join the administration, and noted several areas where he disagrees with its policies, including fast-tracking the bird flu vaccine (he campaigned against mandates around masking and the Covid-19 vaccine) and the administration’s crackdown on free speech in the name of correcting censorship. “They should be very careful with that,” he said. “If it’s people doing violent things, taking over schools, yes, by all means… but you have to establish precedents that you’re going to be OK with later.”

Starbuck said he’s pushing for “corporate neutrality” only. “I don’t want to turn the Fortune 500 into right-wing companies,” he said. He said he’s trying to prevent “a situation where we have totally parallel economies,” with blue brands and red brands, because “it’s going to hurt our economy, and it’s going to hurt our country.”