Apple General Director Tim Cook poses while Apple holds an event at Steve Jobs theater on his campus in Cupertino, California, US 9 September 2024.
Manuel Orbegozo | Reuters
Apple Tuesday shareholders opposed a request to abolish its inclusion and diversity program, signaling that investors still see values in the company’s diversity programs.
The proposal, presented by the National Center for Public Policy Research, was voted at the annual meeting of Apple shareholders.
The proposal pushed Apple to terminate its diversity, equality and involvement, or dei, and quoted the reporting of CNBCs that found companies such as Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft AND Enlarge were returning their diversity programs. She asked Apple to get rid of her program, policies, department and goals, arguing that diversity programs could discriminate against and that the risk of compliance threatens after Apple.
“The risks to Apple stemming from the pushing of these divisive and destructive agendas of value is only increasing in the light of President Trump’s last executive order by focusing the Department of Justice on the rooting of the illegal discrimination being carried out on behalf of Dei, “NCPPR EXECUTIVE Director Stephen Padfield said at the meeting. “The change of vibe is clear. Dei is out, and the merit is in.”
Apple opposed the measure, saying it is already in line with employment laws and that the proposal is inappropriate to micromanize the company’s programs.
“Our strength has always come from hiring the best people and then securing a culture of cooperation, one where people of different backgrounds and perspectives come together to innovate and create something magical for our users,” said CEO of Tim Cook .
Despite the measure of the measure, Cook warned that the legal landscape on diversity issues can force Apple to make changes.
Even before President Donald Trump was elected in November, diversity programs have escalated throughout the corporate world. One main manager was a decision of the Supreme Court of 2023 that found affirmative actions in college admissions was unconstitutional.
Companies u like Amazon, McDonald’s, target, Ford, Lowe’s AND Unsaturated have abandoned or scaled dei initiatives. When Trump took office last month, one of his first executive orders tried to complete the Programs of the Federal Government Dei.
Apple has inclusion programs ranging from internal support groups, features for people with disabilities and research efforts to ensure that company products and services do not exhibit racial prejudices, according to the company’s website.
Nearly two -thirds of the company’s workforce are male, and 35% is female, according to the company’s website, which quotes figures from 2022. The website also says 42% of employees are white, and 30% are Asian.
The proposals of others
Apple’s shareholders also overturned external proposals to create reports on the use of the Ethical Ethics of the Company, the costs and benefits of various approaches to combat the exploitation of children and charity.
Investors also launched a proposal from the National Law Center and the policies that focused on its Openai partnership. She suggested that Apple’s agreement with Openai could oppose its focus on intimacy, and asked the company to prepare a report on the risks of using private or unlicensed data to train artificial intelligence.
The company opposed the proposal, saying it already provides information about its data intimacy practices.
The shareholders approved the Apple’s list for the Board of Directors, its audience and the company’s executive compensation in an advisory vote.
This included annual Cook compensation. He was paid $ 74.61 million in 2024, stock prices and bonuses, from $ 64.21 million in 2023. In documents given to shareholders, Apple demanded that its market lid had increased by over $ 3 trillion during COOK.
At the meeting, Cook spoke of a $ 500 billion semes for US spending announced Monday that was greeted by Trump.
“The US is our home, and we are deeply committed to the future of the country,” he said.
Moreover, Cook said Apple is planning to increase its dividend every year and will update investors in May for this year’s growth.
“We have also paid more than $ 165 billion dividends, including $ 15.3 billion in just the last four quarters,” Cook said.
Look: Apple to invest $ 500 billion to play a role in strengthening Apple’s intelligence