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The Morning Risk Report: Big Companies Boost Share of Black and Latino Directors
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Former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett was named by Ralph Lauren as a director in October. PHOTO: ANDREW DAVIS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Good morning. The biggest U.S. companies sharply increased the number of new Black and Latino directors named to their boards this spring, a step toward diversifying boardrooms, a new study found.
S&P 500 companies tripled the share of new directors who are Black and more than doubled the share who are Latino. The shift leaves nearly 80% of the companies’ board seats occupied by white directors and about 70% by men.
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S&P 500 boards added 456 new independent directors—those without strong ties to management—over the past year, many this spring, the highest number since 2004, according to an analysis of corporate proxy filings from Spencer Stuart, an executive and board recruiting firm.
Darren Walker, who sits on the boards of PepsiCo Inc., Square Inc. and Ralph Lauren Corp., told those companies last year that having one Black director like him wasn’t enough. “It’s up to those of us who make it into the room to not simply shut the door behind us but to open it even wider,” said Mr. Walker, who is president of the Ford Foundation. “If we limit these seats, that’s not true diversity, that’s tokenism.”
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U.S. antitrust regulators are challenging Aon PLC’s proposed $35 billion purchase of a rival, Willis Towers Watson; the Leadenhall Building in London, home to Aon, in January. PHOTO: MIKE KEMP/IN PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES
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The Justice Department on Wednesday filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging insurance broker Aon PLC’s proposed $35 billion acquisition of rival Willis Towers Watson PLC, alleging the tie-up would lead to higher prices and reduced innovation for U.S. businesses, employers and unions that rely on their services.
The department, which filed the case in a Washington federal court, said the merger would eliminate competition in several different markets of value to the U.S. economy.
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Some countries might try to stay outside the emerging agreement to impose a global minimum tax on corporations so those nations can use low tax rates to attract businesses. The Biden administration aims to deflect those attempts with a powerful Shield.
The Shield—the Stopping Harmful Inversions and Ending Low-Tax Developments rule—is the administration’s tax threat to the rest of the world, the flip side of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s cooperative diplomacy.
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The far-right group the Oath Keepers is splintering after board members accused the founder of spending its money on hair dye, steaks and guns. The leader of the Proud Boys, choked off from the financial system, is printing “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts to make money. The far-right groups face a cash squeeze, internal discord, social-media cutoff and isolation from the financial system.
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Kim Jong Un said his country’s food situation is getting tense, an acknowledgment of the continuing challenges inside North Korea following a year of major flood damage, pandemic shutdowns and ongoing sanctions.
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Tahanie Aboushi is running to be Manhattan district attorney, hoping to harness the insurgent energy of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing and remake what it means to be a prosecutor. She is campaigning on an overhaul of the criminal-justice system, ending mass incarceration and declining to prosecute all but the most serious offenses.
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The New York City Council is set to approve legislation Thursday that provides relief for small businesses, including easing code enforcement and slashing the cost of thousands of fines that mom-and-pop shops and restaurateurs were issued in the past eight years.
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A federal judge ordered a mistrial Wednesday after a jury deadlocked over whether a former University of Tennessee scientist hid his work in Beijing in order to obtain U.S. government research grants.
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President Biden said he presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a list of critical infrastructure that he said should be off limits to cyberattacks. PHOTO: MIKHAIL METZEL/TASS/ZUMA PRESS
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President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to ease tensions during a high-profile summit, even as the Russian leader denied involvement in cyberattacks and Mr. Biden warned of significant consequences for future cyber-aggression or harm to jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.
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Construction of new housing in the past 20 years fell 5.5 million units short of long-term historical levels, according to a new National Association of Realtors report, which is calling for a “once-in-a-generation” policy response.
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Palestinian militants in Gaza launched more flaming balloons into Israel on Wednesday, as a new round of violence between Israel and Hamas entered a second day and threatened to trigger another conflict.
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Condé Nast has agreed to its first contract with unionized employees at the New Yorker and two other publications, marking the media company’s first labor agreement in its history and averting a threatened strike after 2½ years of negotiations.
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A ShopIN.nyc employee arriving with new inventory to be sent out the same day. Photographs by Evelyn Freja for The Wall Street Journal
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Not being Amazon.com Inc. is a selling point for some e-commerce players. ShopIN.nyc is a New York-based company that is part of a growing group of businesses and organizations positioning themselves as anti-Amazons. They’re working to unite small businesses that have lost sales and margins to the e-commerce giant and tap into concern about its growing clout and competitive practices.
The e-commerce pushback against Amazon is coming from small firms along with other tech giants—and their efforts have gained speed and urgency with the pandemic battering many traditional retailers.
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Osamu Nagayama will be up for re-election as Toshiba’s board chairman on June 25. PHOTO: TOSHIBA/REUTERS
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Toshiba Corp.’s board chairman, facing opposition from shareholder-advisory firms, said he would consider handing over the reins but only after setting Toshiba on the right path with a revamped board and new CEO.
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Facebook Inc.’s oversight panel has won credibility for independence after ruling repeatedly against the social-media giant. The board has become a closely watched experiment in corporate governance for online platforms, which have long struggled with the issue of moderating content. Facebook has two billion active users a day, including heads of state and public figures known to post polarizing statements that can go viral on the platform.
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Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Satya Nadella will also assume the role of company chairman, the company said. The move marks the second year in a row Microsoft’s board has undergone significant change after co-founder Bill Gates last year announced he was stepping down three months after having been re-elected to the board.
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Cruise operators are hoping to show they have protocols in place to handle Covid-19 cases. PHOTO: ELIZABETH RUIZ/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
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Royal Caribbean Group is postponing a voyage in July after eight crew members tested positive for Covid-19, demonstrating the challenges that arise with restarting cruises during the pandemic.
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Tech startups have a new pitch for employees: write code from home, and join colleagues a few times a year on a beach in Panama or ranch in Montana. As the world reopens, many startups are choosing to keep their workforce remote. Their employees may not want to resume tedious commutes or rigid office schedules, but many still yearn for the deeper relationships with colleagues that used to be formed in the office.
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