Ken Frazier, the first Black CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, and Ken Chenault, the third Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company, have expressed concerns about the push to dismantle Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The two corporate leaders warned that eliminating DEI programs would restrict opportunities for people who already face discrimination, ultimately preventing companies from tapping into a full range of talent.
Frazier, who led Merck as CEO from 2011 to 2021, said DEI strategies are critical in a country where access to opportunities is unequal. In an interview with CNN, Frazier said, “At its best, DEI is about developing talent, measuring it fairly, and finding hidden potential in a world where not everybody has an equal chance to exhibit their abilities.”
Frazier pointed to his own experience at Merck as evidence of DEI’s importance. He joined the company as legal counsel in 1990 but was later mentored by then-CEO Roy Vagelos, who moved him to the business side, setting him on the path to becoming CEO. Frazier credited Vagelos for recognizing that traditional career paths weren’t always based solely on merit.
“The reality is if [Vagelos] had followed the company’s usual promotion standards—which many people confused with merit simply because it was the way things were done—I wouldn’t have had a chance,” Frazier said.
Research from Boston Consulting Group supports Frazier’s stance, showing that companies with strong DEI programs tend to have more diverse workforces, with higher percentages of Black, Asian, and Latinx employees. These initiatives help address long-standing barriers that have kept underrepresented groups from advancing in corporate settings.
Chenault, who was CEO and chairman of American Express from 2001 to 2018, echoed Frazier’s concerns. He said that in the past, the concept of merit was often used to mask the advantages of privilege and connections. “This idea that merit ruled 50 years ago wasn’t accurate,” Chenault said. “The definition of merit was flawed, and competition for promotions and scholarships is much tougher today.”
While Frazier and Chenault do not agree with every DEI initiative, they said the political climate is stalling progress on racial equity. Frazier described the situation as being shaped by “sine waves” of political sentiment, with the current environment pushing back against efforts to address inequality.
“The political climate right now is one that pushes back against the work being done to address racial inequality,” Frazier said.
The 2023 Supreme Court ruling that declared affirmative action unconstitutional has intensified efforts to curb DEI programs, especially among companies that adopted these initiatives following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Frazier noted that while some businesses are abandoning DEI due to political pressure, others that have fully integrated these efforts into their cultures are standing firm.
“For some companies that joined the initiative in 2020 because the political environment was encouraging it, those are the ones struggling to stay with it,” Frazier said. “But for companies that had DEI marbled into the way they do business, they’re not trying to change that.”
Both Frazier and Chenault emphasized that DEI is not just about fairness but also about attracting the best talent. Without these programs, they warned, businesses risk excluding capable individuals who have historically been denied opportunities. The consequence, they said, is a less diverse and less competitive workforce.
