Major U.S. Corporations Strip Board Diversity Requirements, Study Finds

An ESGAUGE analysis shows that most S&P 100 firms have removed explicit diversity language from board-selection policies that were common three years ago.

ESGAUGE’s review of governance documents reveals that 61 companies in the S&P 100 have eliminated explicit references to gender, race, ethnicity or other under-represented groups in board-selection criteria since 2023, reversing a period when nearly all major U.S. firms required such considerations. High-profile firms including Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Starbucks and Wells Fargo have removed the language, and six firms even extended the criteria to CEO succession before later retracting it.

The pullback intensified after the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back DEI initiatives across federal entities. While Microsoft, Uber and Capital One continue to keep diversity clauses for directors, the share of firms with "Rooney Rule-like" provisions fell from 58% to 12% in the past year. At the same time, boards are increasingly appointing former CEOs—who are predominantly white men—accounting for 37% of new S&P 500 directors, while women’s share of new board members dropped from 46% to 29%. Advocates stress that progress made over the past five years remains fragile, noting that the "seed" of diversity has been planted but may take time to bear fruit.