The first tweet I saw this morning was from Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in which he stated “When companies act stupid, it’s probably ESG. CC: @budweiserusa”. The tweet is in reference to a decision by Budweiser, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, to feature transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on a Bud Light can. Obviously, Patronis is anti-ESG and his tweet is designed to feed the right, but it raises an interesting question. Was the decision to feature Mulvaney driven by ESG or was it a marketing decision?
Environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, is a type of financial investing where factors beyond financial considerations are considered. Companies are scored by fund managers based on varying, and undefined factors. Standardization of reporting standards are being developed in Europe, with signs of reporting standards being developed for the United States, but they are not in place yet.
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