Good morning!
If you’re reading this newsletter, you’ve probably already heard of Robby Starbuck.
He’s the right-wing activist who made headlines this summer by calling out companies on social media, including John Deere, Tractor Supply, and Harley Davidson, in an effort to get them to roll back their DEI policies. Starbuck’s central argument is that those companies should not be spending customers’ money on what he sees as left-wing causes, and that the workplace should be “neutral.”
Starbuck has become a minor celebrity this year, and his influence is hard to deny. But some DEI advocates I spoke with say that it’s actually less potent than it seems—the companies he’s targeted weren’t stalwart in their policies in the first place, or already had changes in the works before he claimed a victory.
Alphonso David, CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum and a civil rights attorney, points out that in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action last year, and the general DEI backlash of 2024, companies have been scaling back their programs, or talking about them less, for all kinds of reasons. “I think we should be careful not to assume that [Starbuck’s] efforts are actually directly responsible for these changes,” he told me.
Starbuck is also working against popular opinion. The majority of companies still believe in DEI programs, and they’re actually getting more popular among workers. This month, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon doubled down on his support for diversity and inclusion efforts, saying: “It’s good for business; it’s morally right; we’re quite good at it; we’re successful.”
Starbuck says he’s unfazed by anyone who questions his role in overturning DEI programs, telling me in a phone call: “We don’t need external validation.”
He added that he had thousands of people sending him reports of DEI policies, and he expects the next company to unveil changes to have a market cap of over $100 billion.
Last week he tweeted: “Good news: Multiple companies flipping on DEI and wokeness this week. Stay tuned!”
You can read more from my story about Robby Starbuck here.
Lila MacLellan
lila.maclellan@fortune.com
Today’s edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
JPMorgan has appointed a leader to oversee the “well-being and success” of junior bankers amid increased scrutiny about how Wall Street firms treat their young staffers. CNBC
The largest cannabis delivery company in the U.S. is facing criticism for paying its shift supervisors less than the workers they oversee—and the managers are having difficulty unionizing. The Guardian
Some workers at online gaming company Evolution have been on hunger strike for weeks as thousands of employees are protesting the company’s poor pay, harassment, and unsafe working conditions. WIRED
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Caution. Japan’s largest companies and banks are warning their workers in China to stay safe and vigilant after a young Japanese boy was stabbed. —Nicholas Takahashi, Bloomberg
Switch-up. As China has expanded women’s rights and career opportunities, more than half of Chinese men now say they would leave work to be stay-at-home dads. —Ludovic Ehret, AP
Broken hearted. An ex-advertising executive shared his divorce as career experience on LinkedIn, saying that “it was an unpaid job with unreasonable hours” that ultimately led to his firing. —Orianna Rosa Royle
