Walmart Boycott Threat Quickly Turned to Compromise in DEI Shift (1)

“Robby Starbuck has viewed your profile.”

The LinkedIn alerts for Walmart Inc. executives started appearing on Nov. 18, offering an early signal that the anti-DEI campaigner was setting his sights on the biggest US private employer.

Just a week later, the innocuous notification had rippled into a shockwave. Walmart announced a raft of changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, from shifting how it evaluates supplier programs to ending use of the term “LatinX.”

The retreat by the world’s largest retailer is notable not only for its policy turnaround but also the speed at which it came together. Interviews with ...