CEOs gather to speak out against voting law changes

A number of top executives and corporate leaders gathered online this weekend to discuss the changes to some state voting laws, according to multiple news reports.

The Washington Post reported that more than 100 leaders, including executives from major airlines, retailers and manufacturers — plus at least one NFL owner — talked about potential ways to show they opposed the legislation, which has already been signed into law in Georgia and is being considered elsewhere. That includes halting donations to politicians who support the bills and even delaying investments in states that pass the restrictive measures, according to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale management professor and one of the organizers.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources who attended, said that Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express Co., and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., urged dozens of leaders to collectively call for greater voting access. Chenault and Frazier warned businesses against dropping the issue and asked CEOs to sign a statement opposing what they view as discriminatory legislation on voting.

The new statement could come early this week and would build on one that 72 Black executives signed last month in the wake of changes to Georgia's voting laws, according to the newspaper's report.