❌ VOTE-NO CAMPAIGN: Vote Against Excessive CEO Pay Driving Inequality Risk | COMPANIES: Numerous Companies — See list below
COMPANIES: Axon Enterprise (AXON), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Coca-Cola Co. (KO), Walmart (WMT), Live Nation Entertainment (LYV), Best Buy (BBY), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Lululemon Athletica (LULU), TJX Cos. (TJX), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Target Corp. (TGT), Duke Energy (DUK), Lowe’s (LOW), Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT), McDonald’s (MCD), Ross Stores (ROST), Yum! Brands (YUM), Simon Property Group (SPG), Sempra Energy (SRE)
PROPONENT: Majority Action
CAMPAIGN MATERIAL: Majority Action’s Inequality-Pay Ratio Vote Guide
ACTION ITEM:
Majority Action’s 2026 guide recommends voting against say-on-pay proposals at companies with outsized CEO-to-worker pay ratios, arguing that extreme intra-firm inequality can suppress economic growth, weaken productivity, and create system-level risks that ultimately impact long-term portfolio returns.
IMPACT ON DIVERSIFIED SHAREHOLDERS:
Majority Action’s vote-no campaign around economic inequality asks investors to withhold votes approving Say-on-Pay resolutions where either the company’s 2024 (as reported in the 2025 proxy) and 2025 (as reported in the 2026 proxy) pay ratios exceed 494:1, ranking it in the top decile of pay ratios among S&P 500 companies OR the company’s 2024 and 2025 pay ratio are upper outliers relative to other companies in the same sector.
For diversified investors, the voting guide explains that:
Intra-firm disparities between executives and workers are a key driver of system-level inequality risk. Among other things, exorbitant CEO pay inhibits human capital formation, depresses consumer spending by shrinking labor’s share of income, and decreases economic productivity by preventing corporate profits from being reinvested into value-creating initiatives. These factors are also portfolio-level risks for long-term diversified investors. While the broader economy primarily drives portfolio returns, corporate negative externalities can suppress GDP growth, ultimately undermining long-term investment performance.
