Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The Trump administration will restrict visas for pregnant women, Kotex ditches the mystery blue liquid in its commercials, and Goldman sets a quota. Have a wonderful weekend.
– Goldman’s goal. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon shook up the World Economic Forum yesterday when he announced that the bank would refuse to take a company public unless it had at least one “diverse” board member.
The initiative will start in July in the U.S. and Europe, Solomon said at the summit in Davos, Switzerland. The initial requirement will be one board member, but the bank will move toward two in 2021. I spoke with him briefly after the announcement; he said, “IPOs are a pivotal moment for firms,” and that diversity in the boardroom “matters for performance.” Solomon said that in the past four years, the public offerings of U.S. companies with at least one female director performed “significantly better” than those without.
It’s worth noting that WeWork was a high-profile culprit of the all-male board trend and that Goldman would have been one of the investment banks to lead its IPO, which was ultimately pulled amid questions related to the co-working space’s valuation and governance.
The U.S. has tiptoed into the boardroom quota trend that’s already reached places like Italy, Germany, and France, but it hasn’t done so via Washington. Rather, California passed a law in 2018 that requires public companies to have at least one female director. But amid the lack of federal action, some influential players in the private sector—a group that now includes Goldman—have introduced measures to nudge companies toward more diversity. Investors BlackRock and Vanguard, for instance, are using their voting power to pressure companies to add women to their boards.
At the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Finland’s new 34-year-old Prime Minister Sanna Marin was asked why gender quotas are needed if the business case for diversity has already been made. “There are people behind businesses,” she said. Therefore, “businesses don’t always work in a logical way.” You can read my whole story on the Goldman news here.
Finally, a quick housekeeping note: Please keep an eye out for a new addition to the Fortune newsletter family, The Broadside. Publishing once a month, it’s focused on giving women the insight and resources they need to get to the next level in their careers.
Claire Zillman claire.zillman@fortune.com @clairezillman
Today’s Broadsheet was produced by Emma Hinchliffe.
- Billionaire backlash. Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman with an estimated fortune of $2 billion and the daughter of Angola’s former President, will be charged with "committing crimes to enrich herself," including money laundering, influence peddling, harmful management, and forgery of documents. The expected charges stem from her time running the state oil company Sonangol; Angolan officials conducted an investigation. New York Times
- Let it bleed . Goodbye, blue mystery liquid! Tampon and pad brand Kotex will air an ad featuring a red substance that looks more like actual menstrual blood. Some smaller menstrual product startups have done this, but Kotex is the first major brand to make the switch. "Blood is blood. This is something that every woman has experienced, and there is nothing to hide,” says Sarah Paulsen, creative and design director for Kimberly-Clark’s North American feminine-care brands. Wall Street Journal
- Swipe right on safety. Mandy Ginsberg's Match Group invested in Noonlight, a company that makes safety products. Now Tinder will feature a panic button, the option to receive safety check-ins, and the ability to call the authorities to the user's location. Tinder will also introduce a new photo verification service, and is the first of the Match Group's dating apps to implement these features.
- Visa restriction. The Trump Administration's State Department issued new rules yesterday that will allow visa officers to deny pregnant women entry to the United States if officials believe they're visiting for the purpose of "birth tourism"—to try to obtain citizenship for their child. Conservatives have long railed against "anchor babies," while others question whether it's a legitimate phenomenon or concern. New York Times
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: JPMorgan Chase promoted president of co-brand credit cards Leslie Gillin to CMO, succeeding Kristin Lemkau, who was named CEO of a new U.S. wealth management division in December. Little, Brown SVP and publisher Reagan Arthur was named publisher of Knopf. Americares promoted EVP and chief development officer Christine Squires to president and CEO. The American Exploration and Production Council named Liz Bowman VP of communications. Global marketing agency CSM Sport & Entertainment hired Group Nine Media president Christa Carone as president of CSM North America. Pinterest head of diversity and inclusion Candice Morgan joins GV as equity, diversity, and inclusion partner.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - 23andNotMe. Are consumers becoming warier of sharing their genetic information with private companies? 23andMe has seen sales decline, and the company led by Anne Wojcicki just laid off 14% of its staff, or 100 people. "I think the tech world needs to own this better communicate privacy standards to build trust," Wojcicki says, adding that the turn in the genetic-testing market has been "slow and painful" for the company. CNBC
- Just what a professional woman needs? The target customer at the country's largest gun trade show this week? The "professional, modern woman." "She has a job, she has kids," says Sandi Little, president of a company that makes women's clothing designed to hide a handgun. "But she also wants to feel safe." The gun show featured greater inventory of smaller guns—said to appeal to women—compared to past years' focus on rifles and shotguns, a trend following states' loosened restrictions on concealed weapons. Wall Street Journal
- Photoshopping history. Before last weekend's Women's March, the Washington Post reported that the National Archives had altered a displayed image of the 2017 march to blur out some signs critical of President Trump and the many that included the word "pussy." The National Archives said it blurred Trump's name to not "engage" in "political controversy," but restored the original photo after protest from historians and others. Washington Post
- Google results. Googled any professional women lately? Did Google's autofill suggest you search for their husband or wedding? BuzzFeed's Katie Notopoulous conducted a non-scientific experiment and found that when she searched the names of Harvard professors and Forbes 30 Under 30 list members, the suggestion to add "husband" to a search of a woman's name appeared more often than the suggestion to add "wife" to a man's. BuzzFeed
Oscars to feature female conductor for the first time Variety
Obama portraits to tour the nation New York Times
Afghan female journalists fight for their place in the newsroom Zora
Marianne Williamson says she'll support Andrew Yang in Iowa New York Times
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