On the second anniversary of the signing by many major corporations of the Business Roundtable Statement calling on business to operate for the benefit of all stakeholders, the Harvard Governance Program accuses corporate America of, in effect, intending to con the American public.

The Roundtable Statement admonishes companies to work to benefit not only shareholders but also customers, employees, suppliers and communities.  After a survey of over 130 signatory companies, the Harvard Program concludes that “signatory companies did not intend or expect their endorsement to be followed by changes in how they treat stakeholders.”  Details of study results follow.

Signatory CEOs did not bring the signing to their boards, evidence of lack of serious intent.

Almost 100 signatories updated their governance guidelines and failed to elevate status of stakeholders other than shareholders.

Forty shareholder proxy proposals were presented to various companies based on the Statement and every one of them was opposed by managements.

Corporate by-laws continue to emphasize shareholder return.

About 85% of proxy statements do not even mention joining the Statement.

Director compensation remains tied to shareholder return and typically is paid in company stock.  No comp program links director compensation with other stakeholder interests.

The Program’s report ascribes all sorts of cynical motives to what it seemingly considers to be management duplicity.  Putting aside the accuracy of such accusations, it is hard to parse the results of the Program’s report with the professed growing corporate focus on ESG, DEI, climate change, etc.  The Harvard study was headed by Professor Lucien Bebchuk, long a sharp critic of corporate management, who expressed suspicion at the beginning of the favorable press surrounding the Roundtable pronouncement based in part on lack of Board involvement.