Jan 23 (Reuters) - Costco Wholesale ( COST )

shareholders voted strongly against a proposal requesting a

report on the risks of maintaining its diversity and inclusion

initiatives, the U.S. company said on Thursday, sending a

message running counter to the intense scrutiny many such

corporate policies face.

The vote was seen as an early test of investor views about

the value of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

programs, which many companies added or beefed up starting in

2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

More than 98% of the shareholders voted against it at the

annual meeting, Costco said.

Last year, shareholder resolutions at U.S. corporations

looking to counter DEI programs and other corporate social

considerations garnered less than 2% support on average.

Lindsey Stewart, director of stewardship research and policy

for Morningstar Sustainalytics, said the similar result at

Costco "suggests that even if the political environment on

inclusion in the workplace is changing, investors' low

propensity to support anti-DEI resolutions is thus far

unchanged."

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order

that directed government agency chiefs to dismantle DEI policies

at federal agencies, federal contractors and in the private

sector.

He has also suggested that some companies will face

investigations and legal action if their programs are deemed to

be discriminatory.

The proposal at Costco came from the National Center for

Public Policy Research, which describes itself as a free-market

think tank and had asked the company to assess the potential

business risks related to its DEI policies.

The group, which did not immediately comment on the

result, contended that such efforts could pose legal,

reputational, and financial risks, potentially impacting

shareholder returns.

Costco's board, which urged votes against the proposal, said

the report would not provide "meaningful additional information"

to shareholders.

Companies such as Meta Platforms ( META ), Amazon.com ( AMZN )

, JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) and Boeing ( BA ) have modified

their initiatives, scrapped their DEI goals or ended

participation in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's

corporate equity index. But only now are most shareholders

getting a chance to weigh in on such matters.

The membership-only retailer has more than 300,000 employees

globally and about 219,000 in the United States, according to

its 2024 annual report.