Why Costco CEO Ron Vachris is Fast Company's Visionary of the Year
Last June, conservative activist Robby Starbuck launched a campaign targeting 'woke' companies, threatening boycotts unless they renounced their policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through the end of 2024, many companies buckled, including Tractor Supply Co., John Deere, Harley-Davidson, and Walmart. The movement's momentum continued to grow after the November election, claiming McDonald's, Target, Amazon, Meta, PBS, and others.
Then the anti-DEI mob ran into Ron Vachris, a guy who started at Costco as a forklift driver more than 40 years ago and rose to become the CEO in 2024. In January, the National Center for Public Policy Research submitted an anti-DEI proposal at Costco's annual shareholder meeting. On January 23, Vachris and the company's board of directors unanimously recommended that shareholders reject the proposal, and more than 98% of shareholders did just that. Three days later, 19 Republican state attorneys general sent Vachris a letter demanding Costco end its DEI policies.
Vachris and Costco didn't budge, which is why Fast Company is recognizing him as the inaugural recipient of the World Changing Ideas Visionary of the Year. Vachris declined to talk to Fast Company. (Who can blame him? The last thing he needs is to look like he's taking a victory lap.)
'Vachris's actions,' says David Glasgow, a DEI expert at NYU Law School, 'provided a good example for other organizations that are feeling a lot of fear and anxiety right now.'
Studies from McKinsey, MIT, and others confirm the long-term financial benefits for companies with strong DEI policies. 'They tend to have teams that are more creative. Workers tend to be happier. There's less attrition and turnover when you have a focus on inclusion,' says Northwestern University's Alvin Tillery.
Costco retains workers at a higher rate than its competitors, and employees earn a median annual wage of $47,000 (compared with about $27,000 at Walmart). Vachris, a prime example to shelf-stocking employees that Costco rewards top performers, may also inspire other leaders to stand up for their principles.
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