By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on January 28, 2025
An Editorial Opinion
On December 9, 2024, Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Christopher Womack sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump congratulating him on his November 5, 2024, election victory. Womack asked Trump to “consider Southern Company, our subsidiaries, and our 28,000 employees as a partner and resource for you and your administration.” Womack told Trump, “We look forward to once again working with you and your administration.”
Womack concluded his letter by wishing Trump and his family a “safe and happy holiday season, with gratitude for your dedication to our nation and its citizens. Let me know if I can help you in any way.”
On Monday, January 20, 2025 (Inauguration Day), Womack sent an email to all Southern Company employees. The email contained a link to Womack's December 9th letter to Trump and warned employees as follows: “This is an internal email and not intended for external distribution. Please do not forward.”
Womack’s email appears below. The email speaks for itself.
Based upon Womack's letter to Trump and email to employees, Southern Company appears to have fully embraced President Trump's MAGA political agenda. The company is now a "partner and resource" for President Trump and his administration. Mr. Womack expressed gratitude for Trump's "dedication to our nation and its citizens" and offered to"help [Trump] in any way."
This giant utility company, which derives more than 25% of its revenue from African-American customers in seven states, has also made a low-keyed pivot from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which Trump rails against, to promoting "diversity of thought and perspective," whatever that means.
Nobody outside of the Southern Company was supposed to know about this inconspicuous shift in the company's"diversity" priorities.
President Trump is pleased to have Mr. Womack and the Southern Company in his back pocket. BlackRock and The Vanguard Group -- the largest two institutional investors in the Southern Company -- are also pleased with this move. These investment companies are big Trump supporters.
Meanwhile, Chairman, President, and CEO Christopher Womack, whom some company insiders claim was a DEI hire in May 2023, will get to keep his job -- for now.
Except for Costco, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs, nearly all major publicly-owned corporations and big Wall Street banks have fallen in line with President Trump's aggressive dismantlement of DEI policies and programs.