Good morning, Quartz readers!
This week the Nasdaq filed a proposal to require all companies listed on its US exchange to have at least two board members who are not straight, white men. If the Securities and Exchange Commission approves it, we should soon see at least another 570 women on corporate boards—that’s how many Nasdaq companies currently have no female representation at the director level—and at least as many new directors who identify as Black, Hispanic or Latinx, Asian, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, bi-racial, or LGBTQ.
It’s easy to make too much of the proposal, which gives companies between two and five years to comply, and even then lets them off the hook if they offer a public explanation as to why they failed to adequately diversify. The new rule also would be a bit late to the party. California, which is home to more than 500 of the Nasdaq’s 2,777 listed companies, has already legislated board quotas for gender and racial diversity. And Goldman Sachs, which was listed as a co-manager on more than 100 IPOs filed in 2020, won’t even take companies public anymore if their boards are exclusively white and male.
But it’s also easy to overlook the significance of what’s happening. If companies won’t be persuaded by academics who have made the economic case for diversity, or shamed by the media into accepting the moral argument for it, then it’s time to let the pressure come from elsewhere. And now it does, whether from governments, investment banks, or stock exchanges.
This won’t be a simple transition. There are going to be legal questions, and a high risk of tokenism, whether real or perceived. But maybe five years hence we’ll look back at a one-time darling like WeWork and be truly amazed by Wall Street’s support for its planned IPO, not only because the valuation was insane but because the board of this supposedly modern company in 2019 featured zero women. —Heather Landy
Five things on Quartz we especially liked
How to make money from vaccines. Vaccines are traditionally not big money-makers for pharma companies, which generate the overwhelming bulk of their revenue from prescription drugs. But as Annalisa Merelli reports, things are a bit different when you’re making a product that virtually all 7.8 billion of us desperately need. The path to profit isn’t straightforward, however, and it may be that the technology behind the vaccines is where the ultimate value lies. —Oliver Staley, culture and lifestyle editor
Joy to the work. I thrive in a social work environment, and the late Tony Hsieh’s philosophy around making Zappos a happy place to work has always felt so admirable. Fellow golden retriever Sarah Todd explores how the legacy of Hsieh, who died last week, is a great example to use as a starting point, but a good leader also has to create a safe space for when things aren’t so rosy. —Susan Howson, email editor
Are millennials still financially doomed? As an elder millennial, I tend to assume the answer is yes. But new research offers a more complicated picture, as John Detrixhe reports. Millennial wealth is finally catching up to that of Gen X, perhaps thanks to stock ownership. Still, it’s too soon to say if my generation will manage to shake off the ramifications of graduating into an economic recession under a pile of student debt. —Sarah Todd, Quartz at Work senior reporter
Big Wind. There’s been a sea change in the corporate energy sector: Last month, Exxon was briefly unseated as the most valuable energy company in the US. Its challenger is NextEra Energy, owner of the world’s largest collection of wind and solar farms. How did a company founded in 1925 as Florida Power and Light become a renewables leader and take on an oil behemoth? Tim McDonnell tells a story that involves ice cream, market turmoil, and a mixed record on emissions that shows how complicated decarbonizing the economy can be. —Tim Fernholz, senior reporter
AD10S and arrivederci. Having grown up in a sports-obsessed country, I was moved to read how Naples mourned soccer legend Diego Maradona, who passed away last month. Annalisa Merelli’s fervent omaggio encapsulates history, identity politics, and the unconditional love for the “greatest football player who ever lived.” —Anne Quito, design and architecture reporter
We’re obsessed with Section 230
What will become of the internet’s foundational law? Much of the modern internet exists thanks to a short section of a 1996 US law dedicated to moderating online porn. Section 230 guarantees that websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube—any site that hosts user-generated content—can’t be sued in American courts because of the false, filthy, or downright illegal things their users post every day. For nearly a quarter of a century, internet companies have flourished behind this legal shield. But in recent years, the law has come under sustained attack from lawmakers in both US political parties. Everyone, seemingly, wants to repeal or roll back Section 230. The Quartz Weekly Obsession looks into the future of the internet as we know it.
Get the Weekly Obsession email sent to your inbox, for free!
One membership thing that made us think
Doing right, right. It may be December, but like many people, I’m still figuring out how to navigate 2020’s seismic impact on how I work and socialize. For managers, those challenges have been compounded by the need to adjust one’s leadership style, workflow, and company culture to reflect trends like remote, asynchronous work and the ever-fuzzier line between work and everything else. This week’s field guide is a much-needed road map for the pandemic-addled leader who is hoping to stay sane while doing right by their colleagues. —Kira Bindrim, executive editor
✦ Get access to all our field guides, special projects, and presentations with a Quartz membership. Try a seven-day free trial.
Five things from elsewhere that made us smarter
Is it a stick? Is it a leaf? Is it a bug? Turns out, the Phyllium asekiense is all of these things. Part entomological mystery, part celebration of the bizarre wonders of nature, Sabrina Imbler’s story for the New York Times is a journey into the fascinating world of leaf, I mean stick, insects. It has everything: The passion-led entomological quest to understand a curious, extremely rare bug, a metaphor for male-female incommunicability—and, last but not least, a picture puzzle. —Annalisa Merelli, geopolitics reporter
North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” in the rear-view. Four years ago, various businesses launched a widespread and economically damaging boycott of the state over anti-trans legislation that, among other things, dictated which restrooms people could use. This week, the law finally died. For The Atlantic, Giulia Heyward lays out how the state has a new chance to restore its reputation, business ties, and the psyches of its residents. —Nicolás Rivero, tech reporter
A stormy mortgage forecast. The risk of devastating property damage from storms and floods is rising, including in areas that are outside official danger zones. When homeowners with federally backed mortgages lack flood insurance, taxpayers can wind up on the hook for billions of dollars. Yet, as Zack Colman articulates in Politico, cutting off mortgage lending in climate-vulnerable areas would have an outsized impact on communities of color that have already faced longstanding obstacles to home ownership. —Tim McDonnell, climate and energy reporter
A murky post-presidency. Writing for Vanity Fair, Doug Band, a leading advisor of Bill Clinton’s who has since fallen out with the former US president, describes how he architected Clinton’s business and philanthropic dealings and how the blurring of those lines, intentional or not, helped elect Donald Trump in 2016. —Annabelle Timsit, geopolitics reporter
Sayonara, pizza toast. I still remember the buttered toast I had years ago at a small diner tucked in the old Tokyo fish market, which, weirdly, felt way more Japanese than sushi. That was before I knew about the history of kissaten, cozy neighborhood hangouts that absorbed American culture and ingredients during postwar occupation. Their numbers are now dwindling as their aging owners die, Lauren Moya Ford reports for Atlas Obscura. That made me nostalgic for the Japan that is fading away, from the gritty insanity of Tsukiji to the disarming charm of tomato paste over white bread. —Ana Campoy, deputy finance and economics editor
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, bugs, leaves, sticks, and bug-leaf-sticks to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Weekend Brief was brought to you by Susan Howson and Heather Landy.