How Do Words Become Actions?
An original Letter to CEOs came from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. Andrew Behar, shareholder advocate and As You Sow CEO redlined the letter and sent it back to Mr. Fink. Below are excerpts along with the full letter tracked with redlines. Also view the Responsible Investor that published an article.
Excerpts below from Andrew Behar, As You Sow’s CEO (to Larry Fink):
As CEO of the non-profit advocacy organization As You Sow, I have tried to help you catalyze change by filing a shareholder resolution asking how BlackRock plans to implement your commitment to Business Roundtable New Purpose of a Corporation and the idea of stakeholder capitalism. At the 2020 Annual General Meeting, I asked you “how do words become actions?” and for an implementation plan. Your response? “We are fully implemented.”
Unsatisfied, as BlackRock continued to vote for nearly every egregious CEO Pay package and against the vast majority of climate shareholder resolutions, we refiled the resolution and your legal team responded with a no-action request at the SEC to try and silence our voice. Given this aggressive action, it occurred to me that perhaps you seek further clarification of our intent. With that goal in mind, I offer a few suggested tweaks to your CEO letter to demonstrate how BlackRock can move beyond suggestions into action.