Elastic - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Elastic is Medium Risk.

Elastic is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. Elastic implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. The company occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Medium Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	Medium Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Elastic integrates ESG into its business practices. From its 2023 Sustainability Report: Elastic has a “commitment to incorporating ESG principles across our business and advancing sustainable solutions” (1). The company integrates ESG into its business practices. From its FY25 Sustainability Report: “Long-term targets (by FY50, from an FY24 base year):
• Reduce absolute Scope 1, 2, and
3 GHG emissions by 90%
• Reach net-zero GHG emissions across the value chain” (2). Elastic promotes divisive sex and gender policies. Its Global Third Party Code of Conduct requires international vendors to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policy (3). However, the company has not canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (4).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Elastic likely uses Benevity as its charitable giving platform. Benevity vets charities according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate List, which includes mainstream libertarian, conservative, family, and religious advocacy organizations (1)(2)(3).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Elastic requires its employees to take DEI training (1). The company offers unconscious bias training to its employees (2). Elastic appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its hiring. From its 2021 ESG Overview: “Elastic established companywide goals to improve hiring
rates for women, non-binary, and
underrepresented groups” (3). The company appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its business structure through the establishment of gender and racial targets for its recruitment, hiring, and leadership composition. The company is seeking a “2% Workforce Diversity Goal, which establishes an aspirational goal to increase global company representation on the basis of gender and US racial/ethnic diversity by two percentage points” (4). Elastic operates a supplier diversity program. “Supplier Diversity: Support inclusive sourcing practices and foster economic development” (5). The company is an affirmative action employer. “Maintaining a functional affirmative action program that
analyzes and reports US EEO-1 data by our five key business
functions better promotes awareness and understanding of
the expectations for good-faith efforts, and business leader
ownership and accountability for outcomes” (6). Elastic does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (7)(8).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Elastic signed an open letter endorsing the Equality Act, a contentious proposal to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by adding sexual orientation and so-called gender identity as protected categories. The legislation would, among other implications, grant biological men access to women-only spaces such as sports teams and public restrooms, and compel healthcare providers to deliver sex-denying healthcare (1). The company is committed to net zero emissions by 2050 (2). Elastic supports DEI within its business practices. From its 2023 Sustainability Report: “we continuously endeavor to integrate DEI into the day to day at Elastic” (3). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its FY25 Sustainability Report: “At the board of directors level, our nominating and
corporate governance committee oversees our
sustainability and ESG activities, programs, and disclosures
— a responsibility outlined in the committee’s charter.
Sustainability and ESG-related updates are discussed at
every committee meeting” (4). Elastic has used its blog to publish articles spotlighting the BLM movement (5).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

In light of the 2020 BLM movement, Elastic announced that it would match donations to “anti-racism work,” including the ACLU (1)(2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Elastic does not operate a PAC or report on its lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).