(Bloomberg) -- A new investment fund that plans to oppose corporate DEI hiring goals is taking aim at Nike Inc., Kraft Heinz Co. and Autodesk Inc.
Azoria Partners’ fund says it will avoid S&P 500 companies with specific diversity, equity and inclusion hiring objectives when it opens in March. Nike, Kraft Heinz and Autodesk fall into this category, according to an internal memo from the fund seen by Bloomberg News.
Co-founder James Fishback said earlier this month during Azoria’s launch at President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort that he has already spoken with Starbucks Corp. about their DEI targets.
Black, indigenous, people of color and Hispanic Americans “are plenty qualified on their own,” Fishback, 29, said in an interview, adding that his mother is Hispanic. “They don’t need handouts. They don’t need shortcuts.”
Under pressure from conservative activists, investors and lawyers, companies have started to roll back their DEI efforts. A federal appeals court struck down a Nasdaq rule last week that compelled companies to include more women, people of color and LGBTQ+ directors on their boards — or explain why they hadn’t.
Robby Starbuck, the music-video-director-turned-right-wing-provocateur, is among the most vocal opponents of the DEI movement. He has pushed more than a dozen companies, including Walmart Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. and Harley-Davidson Inc., to change their DEI programs in the past year.
Now, Fishback is joining the fray. He previously worked at Greenlight Capital Inc., the hedge fund run by David Einhorn. He left the firm last year and he’s now in a legal dispute with Greenlight over various allegations.
Fishback’s exchange-traded fund, Azoria 500 Meritocracy, will exclude three dozen companies from the S&P 500 that have gender and racial hiring targets. Fishback said those companies will be made public when the fund launches. He has previously mentioned Best Buy Co. as another company that he’s targeting.
Best Buy declined to comment, while Autodesk, Kraft Heinz and Nike haven’t responded to requests for comment.
Starbucks said in a statement that aspirational goals for gender, racial and ethnic diversity that it set in 2020 expired in October. The company’s current goal is to promote from within for 90% of its retail leadership roles.
Fishback said he plans to travel to the UK to meet with members of Parliament and discuss policies related to meritocracy and DEI. At this point, he said his only plans for the ETF are in the US.
Fishback’s fund is the latest to be started by right-wing investors that are pushing back on corporate DEI and environmental, social and governance strategies. “Anti-woke” investor Vivek Ramaswamy, who’s now working with Elon Musk on Trump’s “government efficiency” initiative, started Strive Asset Management two years ago in a bid to counter ESG strategies.
Cathie Wood, who runs Ark Investment Management, attended the launch of Fishback’s firm at Mar-a-Lago. Her firm says on its website that it’s focused on gender equality and supports groups combating social and economic injustices including the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Kevin Roberts, who runs Heritage Foundation — the conservative group behind Project 2025, which provided policy recommendations for the incoming Trump administration — also was at the Mar-a-Lago event.
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