Microsoft Suspends Political Donations to Some Leaders Through 2022
February 05 2021 - 4:54PM
Dow Jones News
By Kimberly Chin
Microsoft Corp. will suspend its political contributions to
officials and organizations that have raised objections to the
presidential election results through 2022, following a review and
discussions with employees on the role its political-action
committee plays in the wake of last month's riot at the
Capitol.
The tech giant said it will halt contributions to all
congressional leaders who voted to object to the certification of
electors as well as to state officials and organizations who backed
the objections or called for the election to be overturned through
the rest of the 2022 election cycle.
The company will also rename its PAC as the Microsoft
Corporation Stakeholders Voluntary PAC to better reflect the
voluntary donations of the company's shareholders, employees and
family members, the company said.
Corporate PACs are funded by volunteer donations from
management-level employees and doled out to candidates by
executives, usually in consultation with their lobbyists.
The Redmond, Wash., company also said it would create a new
program, dubbed the Democracy Forward Initiative, for employees to
throw their dollars toward supporting organizations that address
issuemes and policies that preserve and promote democracy in areas
such as campaign finance reform and voting rights.
The assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, fueled by claims of
election fraud by former President Donald Trump and his GOP allies,
led many companies to suspend PAC contributions while they
re-evaluate their political gift-giving. That group also included
names such as Facebook Inc., AT&T Inc., United Parcel Service
Inc., JPMorgan Chase Inc. and Citigroup Inc.
Microsoft suspended all donations from its PAC after the Capitol
riot, pending further review and discussions with employees. The
company recently said that 20% of its PAC donations over the past
four years went to politicians who objected to President Joe
Biden's win.
Microsoft also plans to work alongside other businesses and
organizations to promote and encourage conversations in the
business community and companies across the U.S.
Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 05, 2021 16:39 ET (21:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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