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“You can’t just pick up the phone and take on one of the most powerful CEOs in the world. Or can you?”

Yes, you can! During the recent Walt Disney Company shareholder meeting, the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) showed how it’s done.

As chronicled in a commentary published by the Daily Signal, Disney CEO Bob Chapek was called out by FEP for helping perpetuate the new blacklist against conservatives in the entertainment industry. One media report on the exchange called it “eye-opening.”

As the commentary noted, this is not an insider trick or a tool available only to those with a lot of money:

I was able to relay my concern directly to Chapek because of my status as an investor. I called into the meeting and keyed in a command to let the operator know I wanted to speak.

Most shareholder meetings reserve time for such questions. It’s a unique opportunity for average Americans to address CEOs and other high-ranking executives in front of their boards of directors, other executives, investors, and the media. The price of admission is as little as owning one share of the company’s stock…

These types of admissions, revelations, and actions are possible if conservatives become shareholder activists with the tenacity to engage.

As of April 1, a share of Disney stock cost near $190. A Facebook share costs just under $300. And there are bargains at companies that need to hear from conservatives, such as Bank of America at around $40 a share and Levi’s near $25.

Stock can be purchased quickly and without fees through online brokers such as Robinhood. As shareholder meetings approach, you’ll be emailed the instructions on how to participate.

At the Disney meeting, Chapek was forced to address the firing of actress Gina Carano. She had posted a meme showing Nazi-era incivility as a precursor to the Holocaust and asked, “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”

It was more passive than memes posted by her costar Pedro Pascal, who used Nazi images to criticize the Trump Administration’s policies and its supporters. Yet it was Carano who was fired from the Disney+ program “The Mandalorian.”

Because of the ownership of a small amount of Disney stock, FEP was allowed to attend Disney’s virtual shareholder meeting and ask the question that pressured Chapek to address this inconsistency. He replied that Disney was not political, but “reflective of the rich diversity of the world we live in.”

Media covered the exchange, and it wasn’t pretty for Disney. One report said:

It’s clear Disney does not believe any of the values that Chapek claims they do. The firing of Carano proves the opposite.

Shareholders also have the power to vote on a company’s board of directors and various company policies. It’s important for conservatives – who have largely let their powers as investors fall by the wayside and not voted their shares or participated in meetings – to involve themselves in a corporate America that is being co-opted by leftist investors who are eagerly participating in shareholder activism.

And it all starts with owning one share of a company’s stock.

“Boycotts aren’t effective,” the commentary noted. “Engagement is key to conservatives’ effectiveness in the corporate culture wars.”

To read all of the commentary by National Center Vice President David W. Almasi – “1
Investor With 1 Share Can Call Out Corporate Leftism” – click here to visit the Daily Signal website.

Author: David Almasi