Philips - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Philips is Medium Risk.

Philips is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Philips 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	High Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

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:

Philips’ received a score of 85 on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. The company recruits employees based on sexual identity issues. The company discriminates against vendors that do not promote divisive sex and gender policies, indicating it prioritizes sexual issues over merit (1)(2). The company was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which demonetized and suppressed content that it deemed to spread “hate speech” or “misinformation”, discuss “debated social issues in a negative or partisan context”, or “vilif[y]” individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These arbitrary guidelines were used to censor mainstream perspectives online (3)(4)(5). However, Philips has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (6).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Philips’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (1)(2). Philips does not make charitable donations to organizations with a “religious or political association/affiliation” (3).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Philips’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company forces employees to attend multiple, controversial trainings on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology. The company provides gender transition guidelines for its employees (1)(2). Philip’s CEO Roy Jakobs signed Catalyst’s Champions for Change pledge, indicating its support of DEI in its leadership composition through the establishment of gender and racial targets (3)(4). Philips protects its employees against viewpoint discrimination (5).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Philips’ CEO is a member of the CEO Action Group for a European Green New Deal (1). The company supports DEI within its business practices. From its news center: “Philips has sponsored and been actively involved in Pride events across the globe, most recently 2019’s Boston, Nashville and Seattle Pride parades” (2). Philips was a signatory of the Health Sector Pledge, committing itself to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Signatories were expected to develop and release a climate resilience plan and appoint a corporate executive to oversee its implementation (3). The company was a contributing member of GARM’s Action Guide to Reduce Media Greenhouse Gas Emissions which provides an action plan for media companies to transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions (4).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Philips’ HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits and lab monitoring, travel and lodging. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). Philips has also sponsored various LGBTQ Pride events, including Pride Parades (3). The company was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (4)(5)(6). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (7).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Philips has not used its PAC donations or lobbying for ideological purposes (1)(2)(3).