The Business Roundtable (BRT) is a nonprofit group that works to influence laws in Washington, D.C. Its members are chief executive officers (CEOs) of large U.S. companies. Unlike the United States Chamber of Commerce, which includes entire businesses as members, the BRT only has CEOs as members. The BRT supports laws that help businesses, such as reducing corporate taxes in the United States and other countries, and promoting trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In 2019, the BRT changed its definition of a corporation’s purpose to focus on stakeholder capitalism. This means the BRT now considers the needs of employees, customers, suppliers, and communities as important as the needs of shareholders. As of 2024, the BRT’s board includes Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco; Joshua Bolten, former White House chief of staff; Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors; Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase.
History
On October 13, 1972, the March Group, helped start by Alcoa chairman John D. Harper and General Electric CEO Fred Borch, the Construction Users Anti-Inflation Roundtable, started by retired United States Steel CEO Roger Blough, and the Labor Law Study Group (LLSG) joined together to create the Business Roundtable. Politically conservative, the group was formed to oppose the increasing influence of unions in the 1960s, especially construction unions.
The March Group included chief executive officers who met casually to discuss public policy issues. The Construction Users Anti-Inflation Roundtable focused on controlling construction costs. The Labor Law Study Group was mostly made up of labor relations executives from major companies. Harper became the first president of the new group, followed by Thomas Murphy of General Motors, Irving Shapiro of DuPont, and then Clifford Garvin of Exxon.
In 2010, The Washington Post described the group as President Barack Obama’s "closest ally in the business community."
On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable changed its long-standing definition of a corporation’s purpose. It replaced its main principle, which stated that shareholder interests should be prioritized above all else, a belief first defined in 1970 by conservative economist and Nobel economics laureate Milton Friedman and promoted in the 1980s by economist Alfred Rappaport. This shareholder value theory was widely used in North American boardrooms during the 20th century. The Business Roundtable statement, signed by nearly 200 chief executive officers from major U.S. corporations in 2019, declared a "fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders," including customers, employees, suppliers, and local communities.
Activities
The Business Roundtable played an important role in stopping an anti-trust bill in 1975 and a plan by Ralph Nader for a consumer protection agency in 1977. It also helped weaken the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act. The Roundtable’s most important success was blocking labor law reform that aimed to make it harder for companies to intimidate workers who wanted to join unions. The AFL-CIO created a bill in 1977 that passed the House, but the Roundtable opposed it. Through strong lobbying, the Roundtable stopped the bill’s supporters in the Senate from getting the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster.
In fiscal policy, the Roundtable helped expand the 1985 tax cuts signed by Ronald Reagan, successfully pushing for large reductions in corporate taxes. In trade policy, it supported opening foreign markets to American trade and investment. In 1990, the Roundtable encouraged George Bush to start a free trade agreement with Mexico. In 1993, the Roundtable lobbied for NAFTA and opposed strong side agreements on labor and the environment. The Roundtable also supported the new NAFTA deal in 2019.
The Roundtable also opposed changes in corporate governance that would have made company boards and CEOs more responsible to shareholders. In 1986, the Roundtable convinced the Securities and Exchange Commission to avoid new rules on mergers and acquisitions. In 1993, it persuaded President Clinton to weaken his plan to penalize high executive salaries. Citicorp CEO John Reed, who led the Roundtable’s Accounting Task Force, said Clinton’s plan could harm U.S. competitiveness. The Roundtable’s Health, Welfare, and Retirement Income Task Force, led by Prudential Insurance CEO Robert C. Winters, supported President Bush’s plan, which included financial support for the health care industry. In a 1991 statement, the Roundtable said the nation’s health care system works well for most Americans and that solutions should build on the current system, not replace it.
The Roundtable has used press releases, editorials, congressional testimony, and advertisements to share its views. After the No Child Left Behind Act was signed in 2002, the Roundtable released a statement saying it strongly supported the law and was working with states to implement it.
The Business Roundtable also works to protect or keep administrators’ power in large companies. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission created a rule called “shareholders’ access to proxy,” which would have allowed shareholders to propose and nominate company directors. The Roundtable strongly opposed this rule. Its president, John Castellani, told The Washington Post that removing the rule was a top priority, as all members had raised concerns about it. The SEC rule was later dropped after intense lobbying and legal challenges.
In June 2018, the Business Roundtable issued a statement urging the White House to stop separating children from their parents at the border, calling the practice “cruel and contrary to American values.” The statement, written by the organization’s Immigration Committee chairman, Chuck Robbins, also praised bipartisan lawmakers for working on immigration reforms. The statement was widely supported by the Roundtable’s leadership and members.
In April 2024, the Business Roundtable sued the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the FTC banned noncompete agreements, which the FTC said were “widespread and often exploitative,” preventing workers from changing jobs or starting new businesses.
Legislation
The Business Roundtable sent a letter to members of the House, strongly supporting the Customer Protection and End User Relief Act (H.R. 4413; 113th Congress). The letter stated that a survey of chief financial officers and corporate treasurers showed the need for the end-user provisions in the bill. This is because 86% of those surveyed said that requiring full collateral for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives would harm business investment, acquisitions, research and development, and job creation. The letter concluded that the Business Roundtable supports efforts to improve transparency in derivatives markets and strengthen financial stability for the U.S. economy through new regulations that avoid unnecessary costs.
In 2021, the Business Roundtable worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers to lobby House and Senate Democrats against increasing taxes on companies, high-income people, and small businesses to fund President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better initiative.
In April 2025, the Business Roundtable released a white paper that described the corporate proxy process as being used by shareholder activists to promote political goals. The paper asked Congress and the SEC to stop all shareholder proposals about environmental, social, and political issues in corporate proxy statements through legislation.
2019 corporation pledge
On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable released a new "Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation." Nearly 200 chief executive officers, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, General Motors’ Mary Barra, and Oracle’s Safra Catz, signed the statement. The group said it would no longer focus only on making money for shareholders, a goal it had supported since 1997. Instead, it would aim to meet the needs of all people and groups affected by a company’s actions, such as customers, employees, suppliers, and communities. The statement said businesses are important to the economy because they create jobs, help develop new ideas, and provide necessary services. It also said that the interests of shareholders are equally important as those of customers, employees, suppliers, and communities. The statement said, "Each of our stakeholders is essential. We commit to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities, and our country."
In September 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Jeff Bezos was the first CEO to break a promise he had made. By 2021, Bezos was no longer listed as a member of the Business Roundtable. In July 2021, before leaving his job as Amazon’s CEO, Bezos added "Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer" to Amazon’s list of leadership principles.
Robert Reich, a former U.S. secretary of labor and a professor at Berkeley University, said that corporate social responsibility and the Business Roundtable’s support for it are not genuine. He pointed to actions by BRT members Jeff Bezos, Mary Barra, and Dennis Muilenburg. Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, announced plans to reduce health benefits for part-time workers. Mary Barra, despite General Motors’ high profits and tax breaks, refused to raise wages or stop sending jobs overseas. Dennis Muilenburg, who left Boeing, received $62 million in pay and retirement benefits, even though Boeing had stopped flying its 737 MAX planes due to safety issues.
In September 2020, U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren wrote a strongly worded 11-page letter to the Business Roundtable. She said the group’s 2019 pledge to focus on the needs of all stakeholders was not real and called it an "empty gesture."
In August 2021, Harvard Law School’s Program on Corporate Governance said the 2019 statement did not show a real commitment by the Business Roundtable. It called the pledge "mostly for show." In response, the director and CEO of JUST Capital, a non-profit that evaluates companies based on environmental, social, and governance factors, said ESG and stakeholder capitalism are not perfect but are still the best way to achieve long-term success and a stable society.
BRT board of directors
As of 2024, the following individuals have served as CEOs on the board of directors of BRT:
- John Engler (2010–2017)
- Joshua Bolten (2017–present)