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White men were the majority of new directors at S&P 500 companies for the first time since 2017, according to new corporate research.
This year to date, nearly 55% of more than 400 new corporate directors appointed to the boards of S&P 55 companies were white men.
Women made up a third of new board seats, down from a peak of 44% in 2022.
“Directors of color” were 20% of board hires, down from 44% in 2021.
According to Axios, which put a negative spin on the news, “It’s the latest stat illustrating how quickly and substantially the Trump administration has set back diversity gains over the last few years at corporations, schools and the federal government.”
Reversing prejudicial diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) initiatives has been a key policy of the new Trump administration.
In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo instructing the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Civil Rights Division to “to investigate, eliminate and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs and activities in the private sector.”
AG Bondi’s memo followed a Trump Executive Order signed on 21 January that directed government agencies to make a list of companies to target for their DEI policies.
Companies like Walt Disney, Meta and Target have made high-profile changes to their hiring policies in an attempt to avoid attention from the White House and DoJ.
