Conservative social media activist Robby Starbuck is forming a lobbying group to push for "long-term corporate oversight" of company diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. He's already successfully pressured major corporations like Walmart, Lowe's, and Harley-Davidson to alter their DEI efforts.
Starbuck has received a substantial funding offer but rejected it due to conditions that would compromise his independence and journalistic integrity. He intends to maintain his own standards despite the pressure to manipulate his messaging or target selection.
Starbuck's campaigns begin with direct messages to CEOs on LinkedIn. He has secured nondisclosure agreements allowing for candid conversations. His efforts have impacted over a dozen companies with a combined market value exceeding $2 trillion, amplified by figures such as Elon Musk and prominent right-wing personalities.
While he's advised some agency heads on complying with White House directives to identify DEI "worst offenders," Starbuck will not join the administration. He expressed disagreements with specific policies, including the fast-tracking of the bird flu vaccine and the administration's approach to free speech and censorship.
Starbuck aims for "corporate neutrality," not to shift Fortune 500 companies to the right wing, but to prevent the formation of parallel "blue" and "red" economies, believing this would harm the country's economy.
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.”
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