In the process of attacking large law firms this week, the Trump administration hinted at another potential goal. It is a decades-old nonprofit organization that helps students land jobs on Wall Street.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Committee sent a letter Monday to the 20 law firms requesting information about their diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI's efforts. All letters asked about sponsorships for educational opportunities, an organization known as SEO.
Letters and EEOC's interest in SEO can ultimately be nothing more than a headache. But in getting the organization to be independent, President Trump aims to be a program that is at the heart of his diversity efforts on Wall Street, shining the spotlight on the uncertain future of such efforts amid his escalating attack on Day.
“For decades, this has been one of the biggest providers of entry-level talent that has progressed to grow and become senior-level talent, especially across Wall Street.”
“This is a very important organization that plays a very meaningful role in fostering racially diverse talent,” he added.
SEO helps students prepare for their Wall Street careers, including helping them obtain internships at banks and law firms. A highly selective internship programme is unlike many recruiting organizations that have emerged in recent years to help businesses respond quickly to their diversity promises. Lawyers say they traditionally avoided legal scrutiny because they focused on providing opportunities rather than achieving diversity numbers goals.
However, in a FAQ this week, the EEOC said it also took into consideration benefits such as training and sponsorship as individual race becomes an example of illegal discrimination. Lawyers tell the dealbook that they don't believe guidance will withstand legal challenges, but they could compete for diversity efforts that are already facing pressure. And that raises a big question on Wall Street.
The SEO spokesman declined to comment.
An increasing attack. The EEOC sent the letter to law firms, including Kirkland & Ellis. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Rasam & Watkins – As the Trump administration had already stepped up its attack on major laws. Over the past two months, Trump has signed a memo stripped of security clearance from Covington & Burling's lawyers and issued executive orders against Perkins Coy and Paul Weiss.
On Thursday, Paul's chairman Weiss, who has long been seen as the face of a major law diversity effort, signed a contract with Trump to withdraw the executive order in exchange for many concessions, including $40 million worth of pro bono work on a cause he supports.
As part of the agreement, Paul and Weiss also reiterated their commitment to “employment, promotion and retention based on merit.” Paul, Weiss said he would hire external experts within 14 days to carry out a “comprehensive audit of all employment practices.”
In a memo to employees, the company's chairman, Brad Carp, said the contract was consistent with the company's longstanding principles. However, many on Wall Street viewed the deal as surrender.
At the same time, the Trump administration is expanding its efforts to curb diversity initiatives. On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission said it would block merger proposals from companies that practice DEIs.
Some banks have already shifted the way they communicate about such efforts. JPMorgan Chase wrote in an internal memo on Friday that it will rename the DEI operations: “Diversity, Opportunity, Inclusion.”
Diversity has been a long-standing challenge for law firms. Last year, about half of the law firm's associates were women, while 31% were people of color, according to the Law Deployment Association, an industrial organization. That has been on the rise for 10 years, when 45% of associates were women and 22% of people of color.
Looking at the partner level, the numbers become even more strict. Approximately 29% of partners were women in 2024, with 13% in colour. Ten years ago, these figures were 21% and 7%.
After George Floyd was murdered in 2020, a major law was promoted to improve diversity efforts, spend tens of millions on diversity consultants and scholarships, and work with organizations to help invite more diverse employees.
Not all of these attempts have been successful, says a law firm partner. Internally and publicly, there was debate over the cost and effectiveness of these programs.
Pullback. A 2023 Supreme Court termination affirmation lawsuit in US schools has led to companies beginning to withdraw after the company's DEI programs become vulnerable to legal agendas. Trump's election and the extensive scrutiny of the subsequent law put these efforts in overdrive.
Some companies say they no longer offer their clients the racial and gender disruption that is often part of the pitch process. Others no longer hold events focused on diversity. Many people are cutting out the Dei Language website.
The Carp and Trump contract could make it easier for businesses to attack similar deals or allow them to further promote DEI pullbacks, lawyers say. (“Day has to wait four years,” one partner told DealBook.
However, the pause does not come without repulsion. In a compilation email on Thursday, Skaden's associates said they were resigning conditionally unless the company came up with a “satisfactory response” in the present moment.
It all raises big questions about SEO. Unlike recent DEI initiatives, SEO is part of Wall Street fabric.
Alumni of this program work in the highest class in America. It includes Cesar Conde, chairman of the NBCuniversal News Group. Joseph Beh, co-CEO of KKR. Frank Baker, co-founder of Siris Capital.
And its supporters are politically disparate. They include Citadel founder Ken Griffin, who voted for Trump in 2024, and Frank Vignano, Trump's first choice, who leads the Social Security Agency.
If SEO leaves, it will be “very emotional,” Braswell told Dealbook, stressing that he believes he will overcome any pressure the organization faces.
For now, SEO efforts have not changed. The 186 classes are scheduled to begin legal internships in mid-May.
– Lauren Hirsch
Just in case you missed it
The first AI startup to be published has published the terminology for IPOs. CoreWeave, an NVIDIA-backed cloud computing company focused on AI applications, is looking to value its $32 billion IPO with a valuation of up to $2.7 billion, according to securities filings. The advisors are currently selling stocks ranging from $47 to $55. Microsoft, the company's biggest client, reportedly chose not to opt out of the option to buy additional computing power worth $12 billion, but CoreWeave recently secured the deal for the same amount as Openai.
The Federal Communications Commission said DEI would block merger proposals from companies that practice “companies seeking FCC approval), encouraging them to be busy ending all sorts of forms of discrimination on Day,” Chairman Brundan Kerr said in an interview with Bloomberg. An extraordinary statement could force businesses to eradicate comprehensive efforts. Such an order, although outside the scope of the agency's duties, is consistent with President Trump's aim to eliminate diversity initiatives across the country. Paramount is still awaiting approval for the merger with Hollywood Studios Skydance, but recently announced it would pull back its inclusion policy, citing Trump's policies.
The San Francisco Giants sold their shares to Private Equity, and the Boston Celtics won a record deal at the private equity sale. The Giants, one of Baseball's most successful teams, sold about 10% stake on Sixth Street, Dealbook first reported. A few days later, the Celtics announced they were selling themselves to investors' groups in record amounts valued the team at up to $7.3 billion. Both spotlight the burgeoning ratings for the sport, putting teams out of reach of billionaires seeking trophies and falling into the hands of major funding.
Takedown of all tank meta
Meta has taken extraordinary steps by former global public policy director Sarah Wynn Williams to prevent the promotion of all corporate memoirs. However, when the book becomes more visible, it appears that the company's efforts are backfiring. “Cautionless People” rose to the top of the Times' list of non-fiction bestsellers this week. This is the third book for sale on Amazon.
Did Meta's efforts actually help the book?
Welcome to the Streisand Effect, a phenomenon in which attempts to hide information are mistakenly made public. It was named after Barbra Streisand's failed attempt to restrain a photo of her cliff top mansion.
On March 12, Meta announced an arbitration declaration that temporarily prohibits Win Williams from advertising the book. A Meta spokesman wrote in a social media post that the ruling confirmed that “fake honour and misdemeanor books should never be published.”
The next day, book conversations spiked on social media. This is according to an analysis by Dealbook from Kantar Media, a measurement tracking company that researched posts across Reddit, Bluesky, Twitter and other platforms.
“I think it's clearly a massive contributor,” said James Campbell, head of North American digital analytics at Kantal, about how Mehta's response to the book considered raising its profile.
The conversation seemed to move straight away from Meta's legal victory, but the amount of chatter about the book remained rising. When the book came to the top of the Times bestseller list on Wednesday, several news outlets published stories highlighting the success of the title, calling it “I don't want you to read the book.”
But hiding the book may not have been a whole Facebook goal. Even bestselling books reach relatively few people. According to Circana, “The Careless People” sold 18,549 printed copies in the week that ended March 15th.
And the allegations made against Meta in the memoir are unlikely to damage the company's revenue, said Brian Wieser, an analyst who has been following Facebook since 2004. Wieser published a report in 2018 highlighting similar claims. “I don't think anyone on Wall Street cares,” he told DealBook. “Of course I insist they should have.”
Meta may have other concerns, such as preventing other employees from writing negatively about the company or setting precedents to enforce contracts.
Was there any doubt about the effort? The temporary block of Wynn-Williams' promotional efforts has nothing to do with the truthfulness of the book's claims. The disagreement is about whether she violated a non-distinguished contract with Meta. It is also unclear whether Meta will win, especially given that the National Labor Relations Commission has determined that non-different clauses in retirement agreements are generally not legal. However, not everyone who knows the victory of meta arbitration can rate those distinctions.
“I've worked with a lot of CEOs and executives over the years, and sometimes it's the simple act of fighting back and making you seem like you're doing something. It's more important than what actually happens.” “If you don't do anything, perception may be the right thing in the book.”
Thank you for reading! See you on Monday.
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