Goldman Sachs cancels DEI requirement for IPO companies

Goldman confirmed Tuesday that it's ending its commitment to make sure that every company it shepherds through the IPO process in the U.S. or western Europe had at least two board members who were not white men.

• The pledge also called for at least one of those two members to be a woman.
• The company told Axios in 2022 that the policy — which started with one board member and later expanded to two — was working.

Since then, a federal Court of Appeals ruled in December against a Nasdaq board diversity requirement.

• The Supreme Court also ruled in 2023 against affirmative action in college admissions.

What they're saying: "As a result of legal developments related to board diversity requirements, we ended our formal board diversity policy," Goldman spokesperson Tony Fratto said in a statement. "We continue to believe that successful boards benefit from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, and we will encourage them to take this approach."

💭 Our thought bubble via Axios' Emily Peck: For more than a year now, since the Supreme Court banned affirmative action in universities, companies have been running from any quota-like policies — anything that looks like counting numbers of people by protected classes.

• That shift went into hyperdrive on Jan. 20.