05 Jan 2026 Free Enterprise Project Rings in the New Year With Five Corporate Settlements

Washington, D.C. — Shareholder activists with the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) have successfully negotiated shareholder proposal withdrawals with Prudential, Eli Lilly, Exxon, Capital One and AT&T.

Stefan Padfield

“As set forth on our website, ‘the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) is the original and premier opponent of the woke takeover of American corporate life and defender of true capitalism,'” says FEP Executive Director Stefan Padfield. “Each of the agreements set forth in this press release demonstrate the positive impact FEP is having by both pushing corporations to get back to neutral and supporting them when they do, all of which benefits shareholders and the prosperity-maximizing engine of free-market capitalism.”

Prudential

At Prudential, FEP withdrew its previously submitted Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) proposal after the company revised its disclosures to affirm an equal opportunity supplier engagement model that welcomes all qualified suppliers to register with the company.

First, while a prior version of the company’s disclosures had stated that the company’s former “Supplier Diversity Program” used “several classifications for diverse suppliers, including business enterprises owned by minorities, women, veterans, service-disabled veterans, people with disabilities and LGBT,” the updated “Sourcing” disclosure now affirms that “Prudential provides equal opportunity to all suppliers to compete for our business.”

Second, Prudential renamed its former “Inclusive & Sustainable Sourcing Program” to “Supplier Engagement Sourcing Program.” (Compare: “‘Inclusion Riders’ Are Just Quotas“)

Third, Prudential updated the website dedicated to that program to replace “PRUDENTIAL will continue establishing agreements with suppliers who share our vision and dedication regarding inclusion. We understand that an inclusive and sustainable vendor base: ….” with “Prudential’s sourcing program brings together a variety of vendors and we encourage all qualified vendors to register with us. Our sourcing decisions are made regardless of race and/or gender. Our equal opportunity model: ….”

Finally, Prudential affirmed that it no longer uses any supplier tiers tied to race or sex. FEP commends Prudential for its commitment to equal opportunity.

Eli Lilly

At Eli Lilly, FEP withdrew its previously submitted proposal after the company updated its sustainability-related disclosures to expressly affirm a commitment to traditional financial metrics in sustainability-related capital allocations.

Specifically, the company added the following two statements to relevant publications:
(1) “We have established return on investment (ROI) targets and assess net present value (NPV) calculations for our sustainability-related capital projects such as energy efficiency and renewable electricity ….”
(2) “Our sustainability goals are embedded within our business strategy and operations …. When evaluating sustainability-related initiatives, we consider a variety of factors such as alignment with internal procedures for capital investment, improving safety, increasing resiliency, addressing regulatory compliance, and furthering risk mitigation, as applicable. We establish ambitious, quantifiable targets and communicate our progress through this report and other stakeholder communications.”

FEP commends Eli Lilly for increasing its transparency regarding how fully informed its sustainability investments are.

Exxon Mobil

At Exxon Mobil, FEP withdrew its previously submitted proposal after the company agreed to ongoing issue-specific engagement and in light of the company’s fierce defense against the net-zero agenda, explicitly arguing that the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050 scenario is “highly unlikely” to occur because “society would not accept the degradation in global standard of living” required to achieve it.

The company has further contended that mandates to force this transition are often a “Trojan Horse” designed not to improve performance but to “diminish the company’s existing business.” Exxon has also characterized the driving force behind these initiatives as an “extreme agenda” that “does not care about growing shareholder value,” but instead seeks to micromanage operations in service of ideological goals that conflict with the fundamental economics of global energy demand.

In addition to all the foregoing, Exxon has apparently outperformed its closest competitor Chevron by roughly seven percentage points the past twelve months.

Capital One

FEP has withdrawn its proposal at Capital One because (1) as noted in the company’s recently published Climate Report, the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 3 emission goals “are no longer in effect for Capital One because of the scale of operational change stemming from the Discover acquisition,” and (2) Capital One informed FEP that it has already ceased its sponsorship of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and has stopped participating in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI).

FEP brought to the company’s attention that it was still listed as a Silver Partner on at least one part of HRC’s website, and as a result, the company is taking steps to have that designation removed.

Finally, Capital One agreed to engage with FEP again before the next shareholder proposal season.

AT&T

At AT&T, FEP will withdraw its “Sustainability ROI” proposal in recognition and support of the company’s actions to get back to neutral. This year AT&T dropped its sponsorship of the Human Rights Campaign, and the 1792 Exchange has upgraded AT&T in its Corporate Bias Rankings to be “lower risk.”

AT&T has also agreed to expand disclosure of the company’s commitment to subject all sustainability investments to a “rigorous financial analysis and approval process.”

Additionally, AT&T has committed to further engagement with FEP before the next shareholder season.

About

The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 60,000 active recent contributors.

FEP, the original and premier opponent of the woke takeover of American corporate life, aims to push corporations to respect their fiduciary obligations and to stay out of political and social engineering. More information about FEP’s proposals can be found in FEP’s mobile and web app, ProxyNavigator.

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