<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001096906-25-000070.txt : 20250117
<SEC-HEADER>0001096906-25-000070.hdr.sgml : 20250117
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20250117161746
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001096906-25-000070
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	PX14A6G
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20250117
DATE AS OF CHANGE:		20250117
EFFECTIVENESS DATE:		20250117

SUBJECT COMPANY:	

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP /NEW
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000909832
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	RETAIL-VARIETY STORES [5331]
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	07 Trade & Services
		IRS NUMBER:				911223280
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			WA
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0831

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G
		SEC ACT:		1934 Act
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	000-20355
		FILM NUMBER:		25538889

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		999 LAKE DRIVE
		CITY:			ISSAQUAH
		STATE:			WA
		ZIP:			98027-
		BUSINESS PHONE:		4253138100

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		999 LAKE DRIVE
		CITY:			ISSAQUAH
		STATE:			WA
		ZIP:			98027

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	COSTCO COMPANIES INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19970401

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	PRICE/COSTCO INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19930728

FILED BY:		

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			National Center for Public Policy Research, Inc.
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001966397
		ORGANIZATION NAME:           	
		IRS NUMBER:				521226614

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		PX14A6G

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		2005 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW
		CITY:			WASHINGTON
		STATE:			DC
		ZIP:			20036
		BUSINESS PHONE:		2029847168

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		2005 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW
		CITY:			WASHINGTON
		STATE:			DC
		ZIP:			20036
</SEC-HEADER>
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<TYPE>PX14A6G
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>ncppr_px14a6g.htm
<DESCRIPTION>NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH - PX14A6G
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<DIV style=margin-left:72pt;width:468pt><HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><P align=center style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>United States Securities and Exchange Commission</P>
<P align=center style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>Washington, D.C. 20549</P>
<P align=center style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P align=center style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>NOTICE OF EXEMPT SOLICITATION<BR>Pursuant to Rule 14a-103</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>Name of the Registrant: Costco Wholesale Corporation</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>Name of persons relying on exemption: National Center for Public Policy Research</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>Address of persons relying on exemption: 2005 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C 20036</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><I>Written materials are submitted pursuant to Rule 14a-6(g) (1) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Submission is not required of this filer under the terms of the Rule but is made voluntarily in the interest of public disclosure and consideration of these important issues.</I></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><B>PROXY MEMORANDUM</B></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><B>TO:</B>&#160;Shareholders of Costco Wholesale Corporation</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><B>RE:</B>&#160;The case for voting&#160;<B>FOR</B>&#160;Proposal 4: Shareholder Proposal Requesting Report on the Risks of Maintaining DEI Efforts</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><I>This is not a solicitation of authority to vote your proxy. Please DO NOT send us your proxy card.</I></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><I>The following &#8211;&nbsp;which was first published on Real Clear Markets on January 9, 2025<SUP><A name=_ftnb1 /><A href=#_ftnf1><SUP>1</SUP></A></SUP> &#8211;&nbsp;should not be construed as investment advice.</I></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:16pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><B>DEI Is the Problem</B></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><I>By Stefan Padfield</I></P>
<HR style=text-align:left;width:25%><P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf1 /><A href=#_ftnb1><SUP>1</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2025/01/07/prediction_costcos_race-focused_dei_programs_wont_see_2026_1082866.html; https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2025/01/09/stefan-padfield-dei-is-the-problem/</P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><HR style='page-break-after:always;border:0;height:3pt;background-color:#909090;margin:8pt 0'><P style=line-height:0;margin:0></P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>In a recent&#160;Forbes article,<SUP><A name=_ftnb2 /><A href=#_ftnf2><SUP>2</SUP></A></SUP> Paolo Gaudiano asserted that my employer, the&#160;National Center for Public Policy Research&#160;(NCPPR), and other &#8220;anti-DEI activists,&#8221; purposely &#8220;aim to &#8230;&nbsp;foment anger and polarization among white people.&#8221; (You&#8217;ll note that the link is to an archived version of the Gaudiano piece, as Forbes took the piece down after I contacted them about publishing our reply. Having thus washed their hands of the piece &#8211;&nbsp;after countless people read it &#8211;&nbsp;Forbes declined to publish this reply.)</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>In addition to this defamatory smear, Gaudiano also attempted to convince readers to join him in a reality-defying echo chamber when he claimed that: &#8220;Describing DEI as having a discriminatory agenda is absurd &#8230;.&#8221; However, the truth is that DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs are the real problem, and anti-DEI activists are the ones speaking truth to power.</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>Let&#8217;s start with the claim that anti-DEI activists like NCPPR aim to &#8220;foment anger and polarization among white people.&#8221; Obviously, we know what we aim to do, and that is simply to warn institutions of the risks inherent in opening their doors to the divisive and value-destroying Trojan horse of DEI. We are very clear about that in all our related shareholder proposals, in which we provide the requisite supporting evidence (more on that below). In fact, I have personally been warning about that since&#160;2020.<SUP><A name=_ftnb3 /><A href=#_ftnf3><SUP>3</SUP></A></SUP> In light of recent research finding that &#8220;DEI may escalate workplace hostility and racial bias,&#8221;<SUP><A name=_ftnb4 /><A href=#_ftnf4><SUP>4</SUP></A></SUP> Gaudiano&#8217;s claim that anti-DEI activists seek to foment anger and polarization appears to be pure projection. It is the DEI industrial complex that sows division in the name of inclusion.</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>On the assertion that it&#8217;s &#8220;absurd&#8221; to describe DEI as having a discriminatory agenda, Gaudiano has apparently memory-holed the inconvenient truth that one of DEI&#8217;s most esteemed gurus, Ibram X. Kendi, is renowned for having asserted that&#160;the &#8220;only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.&#8221;<SUP><A name=_ftnb5 /><A href=#_ftnf5><SUP>5</SUP></A></SUP></FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>To further test Gaudiano&#8217;s proposition that it&#8217;s &#8220;absurd&#8221; to describe DEI as having a discriminatory agenda, I asked Grok, the AI search engine available to users of X, whether it could find any support for the proposition that DEI has a </FONT></P>
<HR style=text-align:left;width:25%><P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf2 /><A href=#_ftnb2><SUP>2</SUP></A></SUP> https://web.archive.org/web/20250107022235/https:/www.forbes.com/sites/paologaudiano /2025/01/05/costcos-rebuttal-reveals-the-mindless-cost-of-anti-dei-efforts/</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf3 /><A href=#_ftnb3><SUP>3</SUP></A></SUP> https://lawliberty.org/the-duty-to-monitor-diversity-training/</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf4 /><A href=#_ftnb4><SUP>4</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.cfo.com/news/dei-promotion-may-escalate-hostility-and-racial-bias-Network-Contagion-Research-Institute-Rutgers-/734100/</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf5 /><A href=#_ftnb5><SUP>5</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10316292-the-only-remedy-to-racist-discrimination-is-antiracist-discrimination-the</P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><HR style='page-break-after:always;border:0;height:3pt;background-color:#909090;margin:8pt 0'><P style=line-height:0;margin:0></P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=font-size:14pt;background-color:#FFFFFF>discriminatory agenda. The&#160;resulting list<SUP><A name=_ftnb6 /><A href=#_ftnf6><SUP>6</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;of supporting sources was predictably long, and included (1) legal challenges and court decisions like the &#8220;jury verdict awarding nearly $4 million to a white male employee who alleged reverse discrimination based on&#160;DEI initiatives at his workplace,&#8221;<SUP><A name=_ftnb7 /><A href=#_ftnf7><SUP>7</SUP></A></SUP> (2) &#8220;evidence that&#160;DEI statements<SUP><A name=_ftnb8 /><A href=#_ftnf8><SUP>8</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;can act as ideological litmus tests for employment,&#8221; and (3) legislative action, including &#8220;81 anti-DEI bills<SUP><A name=_ftnb9 /><A href=#_ftnf9><SUP>9</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;&#8230; introduced in 28 states and in Congress&#8221; since 2023.</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>Add to that the evidence of DEI-related risks we cite in shareholder proposals like the one we recently filed at&#160;Costco,<SUP><A name=_ftnb10 /><A href=#_ftnf10><SUP>10</SUP></A></SUP> which prompted Gaudiano&#8217;s response. Therein we noted that:</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in&#160;<I>SFFA v. Harvard</I><I><SUP><A name=_ftnb11 /><A href=#_ftnf11><SUP>11</SUP></A></SUP></I>&#160;that discriminating on the basis of race in college admissions violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Prior legal advice regarding the legality of corporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs has been&#160;called into question<SUP><A name=_ftnb12 /><A href=#_ftnf12><SUP>12</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;post-<I>SFFA</I>. As such, Attorneys General of 13 States&#160;warned<SUP><A name=_ftnb13 /><A href=#_ftnf13><SUP>13</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;Fortune 100 companies that&#160;<I>SFFA</I>&#160;implicated corporate DEI programs. Since&#160;<I>SFFA</I>, a number of DEI-related lawsuits have been filed. A corporation was successfully sued for a single case of discrimination against a white employee resulting in an award of more than&#160;$25 million,<SUP><A name=_ftnb14 /><A href=#_ftnf14><SUP>14</SUP></A></SUP> and the risk of being sued for such discrimination appears to be&#160;rising.<SUP><A name=_ftnb15 /><A href=#_ftnf15><SUP>15</SUP></A></SUP></FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<HR style=text-align:left;width:25%><P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf6 /><A href=#_ftnb6><SUP>6</SUP></A></SUP> https://x.com/StefanPadfield/status/1876295438888055114</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf7 /><A href=#_ftnb7><SUP>7</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.orrick.com/en/Insights/2024/04/DEI-Initiatives-in-Reverse-Discrimination-Claims-Circuit-Courts-Weigh-In</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf8 /><A href=#_ftnb8><SUP>8</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/how-discriminatory-dei-ideology-replicates-itself-the-federal-bureaucracy</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf9 /><A href=#_ftnb9><SUP>9</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/09/us/what-is-dei-and-why-its-dividing-america/index.html</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf10 /><A href=#_ftnb10><SUP>10</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2025/01/07/prediction_costcos_race-focused_dei_programs_wont_see_2026_1082866.html</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf11 /><A href=#_ftnb11><SUP>11</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/students-for-fair-admissions-inc-v-president-fellows-of-harvard-college/</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf12 /><A href=#_ftnb12><SUP>12</SUP></A></SUP> https://freebeacon.com/democrats/starbucks-hired-eric-holder-to-conduct-a-civil-rights-audit-the-policies-he-blessed-got-the-coffee-maker-sued/</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf13 /><A href=#_ftnb13><SUP>13</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/pr/2023/pr23-27-letter.pdf</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf14 /><A href=#_ftnb14><SUP>14</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/starbucks-manager-shannon-phillips-wins-25-million-lawsuit-fired-white-donte-robinson-rashon-nelson</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf15 /><A href=#_ftnb15><SUP>15</SUP></A></SUP> https://aflegal.org/afl-files-federal-civil-rights-complaint-against-activision-for-illegal-racist-sexist-and-discriminatory-hiring-practices-and-sends-letter-to-activision-board-demanding-they-end-unlawful-dei-polici/</P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><HR style='page-break-after:always;border:0;height:3pt;background-color:#909090;margin:8pt 0'><P style=line-height:0;margin:0></P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>Other relevant legal cases include&#160;<I>American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund</I><I><SUP><A name=_ftnb16 /><A href=#_ftnf16><SUP>16</SUP></A></SUP></I>&#160;(holding that the fund likely violated federal civil-rights law by excluding applicants other than black women) and&#160;<I>City of&#160;St. Louis v. Muldrow</I><I><SUP><A name=_ftnb17 /><A href=#_ftnf17><SUP>17</SUP></A></SUP></I>&#160;(making it easier to bring reverse discrimination claims).</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>And then we get to the&#160;Robby Starbuck phenomenon,<SUP><A name=_ftnb18 /><A href=#_ftnf18><SUP>18</SUP></A></SUP> which by last count has caused at least 18 big-name companies to walk back or eliminate their DEI programs. There are two critical points about these reversals. First, all Starbuck is doing is exposing the actual DEI programs. As far as I know, no one has accused him of lying or fabricating evidence. It is the actual substance of the DEI programs, once exposed to sunlight, that is causing the backlash. Second, we are now getting a real accounting of the value-destruction of DEI, with John Deere having reportedly lost&#160;$10 billion<SUP><A name=_ftnb19 /><A href=#_ftnf19><SUP>19</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;in market cap after Starbuck started exposing them and before Deere did the right thing and started dismantling its DEI programs. Add to this the related DEI-adjacent losses at&#160;Bud Light, Target, and Disney,<SUP><A name=_ftnb20 /><A href=#_ftnf20><SUP>20</SUP></A></SUP> and continuing to push DEI starts to scream breach of duty.</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>All of which brings us to the question: Should DEI be saved? While the possibility of reform should not be completely dismissed, it must be kept in mind that it is precisely people like Gaudiano &#8211;&nbsp;people who dismiss the reality of DEI divisiveness as &#8220;absurd&#8221; while retreating behind the utterly worn-out trope of accusing anyone disagreeing with them of being a racist &#8211;&nbsp;that would likely be left administering a reformed DEI. We&#8217;re talking about people like Robin DiAngelo, who think progress is made by teaching that&#160;all white people are racist,<SUP><A name=_ftnb21 /><A href=#_ftnf21><SUP>21</SUP></A></SUP> or Ibram X. Kendi, who &#8211;&nbsp;as referenced above &#8211;&nbsp;promotes the neo-racist idea that&#160;the &#8220;only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination,&#8221;<SUP><A name=_ftnb22 /><A href=#_ftnf22><SUP>22</SUP></A></SUP> or even the infamous &#8220;progressive&#8221; who explained the October 7<SUP>th</SUP>&#160;massacre by asking us, &#8220;What did y&#8217;all think decolonization meant?&#8221;<SUP><A name=_ftnb23 /><A href=#_ftnf23><SUP>23</SUP></A></SUP> These are the type of people we are supposed </FONT></P>
<HR style=text-align:left;width:25%><P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf16 /><A href=#_ftnb16><SUP>16</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.pbwt.com/publications/fearless-fund-settles-settlement-will-shape-law-on-race-based-grantmaking-in-eleventh-circuit-while-leaving-issue-unresolved-nationally</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf17 /><A href=#_ftnb17><SUP>17</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/12/05/supreme-court-diversity-equity-inclusion-muldrow/</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf18 /><A href=#_ftnb18><SUP>18</SUP></A></SUP> https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1876375295218835908</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf19 /><A href=#_ftnb19><SUP>19</SUP></A></SUP> https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1820894638019879129</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf20 /><A href=#_ftnb20><SUP>20</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.newsweek.com/target-latest-proofgoing-woke-means-going-broke-opinion-1803675</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf21 /><A href=#_ftnb21><SUP>21</SUP></A></SUP> https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/research/2015-03-25/why-all-white-people-are-racist-but-cant-handle-being-called-racist-the-theory-of-white-fragility</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf22 /><A href=#_ftnb22><SUP>22</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10316292-the-only-remedy-to-racist-discrimination-is-antiracist-discrimination-the</P>
<P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf23 /><A href=#_ftnb23><SUP>23</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.thefp.com/p/this-is-what-decolonization-looks</P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><HR style='page-break-after:always;border:0;height:3pt;background-color:#909090;margin:8pt 0'><P style=line-height:0;margin:0></P>
<HR style='border:0;height:0;width:0;margin:14pt 0 0 0'><P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=font-size:14pt;background-color:#FFFFFF>to trust with providing us a reformed DEI? I think not. And given that no one can guarantee these types won&#8217;t be able to infiltrate a reformed DEI just as they have infiltrated the current DEI, reform seems unlikely.</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>The good news is that we already have everything we need to protect civil rights. As Robby Starbuck said in his recent&#160;commentary<SUP><A name=_ftnb24 /><A href=#_ftnf24><SUP>24</SUP></A></SUP>&#160;on McDonald&#8217;s walking back its DEI programs:</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;margin-left:36pt;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>Provide great service. Be kind. Do the right thing. Be fair. And if you&#8217;re a company executive, you &#8230;&nbsp;lay down the hammer when somebody breaks the law. Everybody&#8217;s all for that. But there&#8217;s no need for DEI teams at all&#8230;. It&#8217;s time that &#8230;&nbsp;we get rid of this infantile way of operating businesses.</FONT></P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>&nbsp;</P>
<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=background-color:#FFFFFF>Let&#8217;s unite around that and stop using DEI to divide people on the basis of race, sex, and ethnicity.</FONT></P>
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<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><I>For these reasons, we urge shareholders to vote </I><B><I>FOR</I></B><I> Proposal 4: Shareholder Proposal Requesting Report on the Risks of Maintaining DEI Efforts.</I></P>
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<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>THE FOREGOING INFORMATION MAY BE DISSEMINATED TO SHAREHOLDERS VIA TELEPHONE, U.S. MAIL, E-MAIL, CERTAIN WEBSITES AND CERTAIN SOCIAL MEDIA VENUES, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS INVESTMENT ADVICE OR AS A SOLICITATION OF AUTHORITY TO VOTE YOUR PROXY.</P>
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<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>THE COST OF DISSEMINATING THE FOREGOING INFORMATION TO SHAREHOLDERS IS BEING BORNE ENTIRELY BY THE FILERS.</P>
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<P style='font:14pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'>PROXY CARDS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED BY US. PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR PROXY TO US. TO VOTE YOUR PROXY, PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR PROXY CARD.</P>
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<P style='font:13pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><FONT style=font-size:14pt>For questions regarding our shareholder proposal on the Costco Wholesale Corporation 2025 proxy ballot, please contact NCPPR at </FONT><FONT style='font-size:14pt;border-bottom:1px solid #000000'>info@nationalcenter.org</FONT><FONT style=font-size:14pt>.</FONT></P>
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<HR style=text-align:left;width:25%><P style='font:12pt Times New Roman;margin:0;color:#000000'><SUP><A name=_ftnf24 /><A href=#_ftnb24><SUP>24</SUP></A></SUP> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_JLkoGIL28</P>
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