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Corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies are out of favor as President Donald Trump returns to the White House.
But they are not totally down for the count, a public company leader who has pushed for more DEI initiatives at tech firms said.
“I personally don’t think so,” Nasdaq chair and CEO Adena Friedman said on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (video above; listen in below).
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Friedman was responding as to if corporate America has been set back many years amid DEI rollbacks at large firms equivalent to Meta (META) and Walmart (WMT).
“I can say for Nasdaq, we’re very happy with what we do,” Friedman added. “We feel superb in regards to the results that we have been capable of achieve when it comes to creating that culture of inclusivity and belonging. And I believe numerous firms feel the identical way I do, and it’s just going to be slightly bit quieter.”
A federal appeals court recently struck down Nasdaq’s try to diversify company boards.
In mid-December, a mostly conservative federal appeals court concluded the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shouldn’t have approved the Nasdaq rules in 2021.
These rules would have required the 1000’s of mostly tech firms on the exchange to have no less than one woman on their board and one one that identified as a minority or LGBTQ. An organization would have to elucidate why it was unable to fulfill this requirement. The principles also included an annual board diversity disclosure.
As well as, President Trump has vowed to rid the federal government of DEI mandates, while Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has called for more masculine energy in firms.
“I believe that being a CEO is a competitive existence. I’m a competitor,” Friedman said.
“But being competitive and being quietly confident — they don’t seem to be antithetical to one another. Having quiet confidence, being humble, being a learner, being willing to take heed to other people, that is a core a part of being a successful CEO as well.”
Friedman is ultimately bullish on IPO outlooks because the Trump administration loosens up regulations.
The IPO market was mixed at best in 2024 despite strong showings by Reddit (RDDT), Viking (VIK), and Rubrik (RBRK). IPOs raised about $123 billion last yr, in comparison with a peak of $594 billion in 2021, in line with Dealogic data.
A complete of 150 firms went public last yr, per a Renaissance Capital study.
