BOMBSHELL: DeSantis’s fight with Disney is being SABOTAGED by “Glass Lewis”

Bob Iger's election to the board was supported by Florida itself

Bob Iger opposed Florida’s Parental Rights bill, participating in the Left’s misinformation campaign labeling it “The Don’t Say Gay Bill,” even before Bob Chapek did, who was Disney’s CEO when the issue was first raised.

“This bill will put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy,” wrote Iger on Twitter on Feb 24, 2022, quote-tweeting President Joe Biden. Yet Florida’s state pension fund, the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA), voted to endorse Bob Iger’s return as Disney CEO by electing him to the company’s board in April 2023. 

Not only did Florida vote in favor of Iger’s election despite his and Disney’s campaign to teach radical leftist gender ideology and LGBTQ theories to small children, they voted to elect him even though Iger bashed DeSantis and the state as “anti-business and anti-Florida'' at that very shareholder meeting. And despite Florida’s efforts to get Disney to tone down their wokeness, the SBA also voted to make Disney even woker with a “racial and gender pay equity” report at a shareholder meeting in 2022.

What is going on? How does this happen?

Florida has been at the forefront of the fight against ESG and wokeness, and DeSantis has taken repeated actions to specifically make sure the Florida State Board of Administration did not participate in the left’s corporate power-grab. And yet, the state board itself continues to vote at shareholder meetings for woke ESG proposals that would shock Floridians.

When, at an Alphabet Inc. (Google’s holding company) shareholder meeting, a proposal was put forward for a “racial equity audit” because, among other reasons, “The New York Times reported YouTube was ‘successfully weaponized by racists...to undermine Black Lives Matter;’” because “there are concerns that Google’s technology may be used by the government to surveil immigrants of color;” and because five liberal senators suggested it; Florida voted in favor.

When, at that same meeting, a proposal was put forward for a “lobbying report” to ensure Alphabet money didn’t go to anyone who lobbied against Biden’s bill to federalize American elections, or groups who, as the proposals puts it: “undermines the Paris Climate Accord”, or “promoted opposition to school mask mandates,” Florida voted in favor. 

Again and again, when similar proposals were put forward at Amazon, Netflix, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta, and others, Florida voted in favor.

At Smith & Wesson (American Outdoor Brands), Florida voted in favor of a “Report on Gun Safety Measures” proposal, even though management said that those behind the proposal were “seeking an alternate, and inappropriate, forum to advance its political and social narrative regarding whether certain firearms that we and other manufacturers make should be banned or further regulated,” and only submitted the proposal because they were “unsuccessful in achieving its legislative efforts to date to restrict or further regulate the manufacture, sale, and use of firearms.” Florida voted for a similar “Report on Gun Safety measures” at Sturm, Ruger, & Co.

More recently, in April 2023, the SBA voted for a “Median gender and racial pay equity report” at Boeing, with the supporting statement that “Pay inequities persist across race and gender.” 

In May 2023, SBA voted for a “Diversity and Inclusion Report” at UPS.

Just a few says ago, on May 6th 2023, Florida voted for a “Climate Report” and “Disclosure and Oversight of Climate Change Risks” at Berkshire Hathaway.

---

So, what’s happening?

The explanation behind this bizarre voting record for such a conservative state is two words: Glass Lewis.

A company’s shareholders are asked to vote at annual meetings, usually concerning proposals on board elections or business decisions. But for large investment funds like the SBA, that could mean voting on around 30,000 proposals a year, being that they are invested in so many different companies. That’s where Glass Lewis comes in. Since these funds don’t have the time or expertise to study each proposal and figure out whether voting for or against it is in their best interest, they hire “proxy advisory firms” such as Glass Lewis to either tell them how to vote, or in some cases, vote instead of them.

But this gives proxy advisory firms immense power. Just two firms, Glass Lewis and ISS, dominate the industry. Many consider it a duopoly. Nearly every single vote by every large investor taken at corporate America’s shareholder meetings are decided by one of these two firms. 

But they are not just powerful. As an in-depth investigation by AAF revealed, Glass Lewis has a political agenda. 

Led by a CEO who donated to former Democrat presidential candidate Howard Dean, and a president connected to the rabidly anti-conservative activist group Human Rights Campaign, and who donated to Obama, Hillary, Nancy Pelosi, and others, Glass Lewis openly embraces the principles of woke ESG investing. With Leftist ideas hard to implement through elections - given how odious these ideas are to most Americans, the woke elite are trying to implement their goals through corporate power, and Glass Lewis is all for it.

Yet unfortunately, many conservative states hire Glass Lewis. Not only are Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and others, giving taxpayer money to the leftists at Glass Lewis, they are paying those leftists to tell the states’ pension systems what to do. That’s why conservative states are voting over and over to make America woke without even knowing it. When woke proposals come up, Glass Lewis tells these states to vote in favor, and, not knowing any better, even a state like Florida is listening. 

This is why AAF is committed to alerting the American public and state officials about Glass Lewis. Not one cent of a state’s tax dollars should be going to them, let alone allowing Glass Lewis to work with state pension dollars. 

Please read our full report here.

For questions and press inquiries please email yitz@americanaccountabilityfoundation.com