A spokesman for the bank said on Tuesday: “Last month, we made our own strong statement in public about the critical importance that every citizen can exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
The statement, released Wednesday, came together over the past week and a half after the black executives who expressed their views received an outpouring of support.
About ten days ago, Mr. Chenault and Frazier consult with three other black executives – William M. Lewis Jr., chairman of investment banking services at Lazard; Clarence Otis Jr., a former CEO of Darden Restaurants; and Charles Phillips, a former CEO of Infor – on the next steps they can take. Within days, they had a draft of the statement and shared it with other drivers.
Last Wednesday, Mr. Frazier and mr. Chenault talks to members of the Business Roundtable, an influential lobbying group that includes the executives of many of the company’s largest companies. Sherrilyn A. Ifill, president and board of directors of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., also spoke with the group.
On Thursday, someone from the staff of mr. McConnell, at the invitation of the group, informed its members about the details of the Georgia legislation, several people familiar with the situation said.
The next day, members of the Business Roundtable held a regular meeting at which management discussed the issue of voting. PayPal CEO Dan Schulman urged other executives to sign the statement.
And on Saturday, Mr. Chenault and Mr. Frazier spoke about a Zoom meeting with more than 100 executives organized by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale professor who regularly meets with business leaders to discuss politics. At the meeting, Mr. Chenault read the statement and invited executives to add their names to the signatory list.