Goldman Sachs has gone woke.
The Wall Street titan announced that it will only help a company file an initial public offering (IPO) if it has at least one diverse board member, though it refused to define what it meant by “diverse.” But CEO David Solomon said the focus will be on women.
Those racists…
The new policy, effective June 30, will apply to American and European Companies. It will later expand its policies to two diverse board members as of June of next year.
But why wouldn’t it apply the policy to Asian businesses, too? Well, we all know the answer to that one.
“We’re not going to take a company public unless there’s one diverse board candidate with a focus on women,” he said. “We think it’s the right advice and we’re in a position also because of our network to help our clients if they need help placing women on boards.”
More from Reuters:
The decision comes as more than 60 U.S. and European companies went public in the last two years without any female board members, the bank said.
Citing its own data, Goldman said companies with greater diversity performed better in the markets.
Those with at least one diverse board member saw a 44% jump in their average share price within a year of going public, versus 13% at companies with no diverse board members.
…
Goldman Sachs will not turn away companies that lack diverse boards at the outset, and it said it currently has some clients that will need help meeting this new standard. The bank said it would introduce executives of these companies to qualified potential candidates.
Ultimately, the bank will not take the company public if it does not meet this new standard, Solomon said.
It appears The Street is trying to go woke. Who will attempt to outdo Goldman Sachs? Will a chief rival say it will only help companies go public if it has at least one transgender board member and one Native American board member? Try topping that!
What a bunch of CRAP! Banksters telling people who they have to have in positions within a company. What is next? You need to have a racial mix of workers that is equal to the mix in the general population. You only have 5% (insert race, gender, non-gender or xyz here) engineers, customer service reps or what ever. As for the 44% jump in share price vs 13%, maybe some companies are just better run than others or were able to buy back more of its stock and that is the reason the stocks went up. Stocks go up and down for many reasons, having WOKE board members may or may not be one. A smart company can just pack their board with the required tokens and then later quietly remove them, check mate.