Our family’s story shows why restoring merit at IBM is vital.
For 60 years, IBM was the heartbeat of our family. As a son, I (Andy) grew up in its orbit, my childhood punctuated by eight moves up and down the East Coast before eighth grade. Each new school, each cardboard box packed in haste, was a testament to IBM’s growing reach. We laughed that its initials stood for “I’ve Been Moved,” a lighthearted nod to a company we revered for how it respected the individual, its unmatched customer service, and its unrelenting pursuit of excellence.
As a father, I (Rich) dedicated 30 years to IBM, following my father-in-law’s path as a field executive. I led teams that launched groundbreaking technologies, and was proud to steward a legacy that didn’t just shape our family but redefined industries worldwide.
As shareholders, we grieve what IBM has become—a company where “I’ve Been Misled” now overshadows its once-proud ethos.
This is our urgent warning to Fortune 500 CEOs: embracing divisive political agendas like DEI courts material risk, derails your mission, and betrays the American values that drive success. DEI was never about diversity—it was about control, elevating race and sex over merit in a way that fractured many corporate cultures, IBM included.
My father-in-law, an American veteran who fought for true equality, would be horrified by the illegal and immoral DEI policies IBM has practiced in recent years. I once saw IBM as a meritocracy, where hard work opened doors. But I watched those doors begin to close under politicized mandates that rewarded quotas over qualifications.
Fortunately, a reckoning is here. The Heritage Foundation’s shareholder resolution against IBM made waves. The momentum was sparked by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s June 2024 lawsuit against IBM for violating the Missouri Human Rights Act. Less than a year later, Robby Starbuck’s relentless campaign forced IBM to confront its missteps. Weeks ago, IBM pledged to dismantle its DEI programs, citing “inherent tensions in practicing inclusion.”
This isn’t the end—it’s the dawn of a corporate realignment grounded in excellence, not activism. Yet IBM’s response lacks the candor we deserve. The company told the SEC it didn’t even understand what DEI meant, a flimsy excuse to sidestep our proposal. Then, under public pressure, it admitted to and canceled a dozen DEI initiatives.
Did IBM knowingly mislead regulators? Perhaps they were spooked by the Alliance Defending Freedom team of litigators with whom we partnered. Either way, this evasion stings deeply—a betrayal of the trust that I, as a son, once felt taping up moving boxes and the accountability that I, as a father, demanded as a leader shaping IBM’s strategic vision.
IBM’s current leadership seems to believe it can quietly retreat from DEI without owning the damage it created: a culture divided, standards eroded, and shareholder confidence shaken. Their dishonesty insults all the former employees who built IBM’s greatness and the investors who believed in its promise.
A company that sidelines merit is gambling with its own future. A company that cloaks itself in politics, not performance, will hemorrhage talent, trust, and market leadership.
The Heritage Foundation has long been renowned for its policy ideas, coalition building, and model legislation. Now we are leveraging our endowment and investment portfolio to spearhead a movement to restore corporate accountability.
We envision an IBM where diverse perspectives are united through shared strengths, not divisive quotas. As a son, I long for the IBM I idolized—one where family, neighbors, and classmates’ parents from all walks of life thrived on merit alone. As a father, I know that prioritizing integrity over ideology will spark innovation, drive revenue growth, fuel transformative products, and restore IBM’s legacy for the next generation.
We believe we can restore the IBM that shaped our family’s story—the one we moved numerous times for, believed in, and are fighting to save—before it’s too late. To achieve this, we demand a sustained public commitment to merit and equality, with no policies that favor immutable traits over qualifications. IBM’s future hinges on living up to the highest standards, not cheap slogans.
The American Mind presents a range of perspectives. Views are writers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of The Claremont Institute.
The American Mind is a publication of the Claremont Institute, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to restoring the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. Interested in supporting our work? Gifts to the Claremont Institute are tax-deductible.
