Dear Friends and Partners,

In May we marked the 234th anniversary of a quiet but pivotal moment in American history. On May 17, 1792, twenty-four merchants and brokers gathered under a buttonwood tree in New York and signed the Buttonwood Agreement, a simple two-sentence agreement. They committed to trade stocks only with one another and to charge a fair, fixed commission. No grand declarations, just practical steps to restore trust and order after financial chaos. 

That modest pact laid the foundation for the New York Stock Exchange and helped power America’s extraordinary economic rise. It embodied timeless principles: focus on the transaction, honor your word, serve your customers, and get back to business.

Today, as our nation approaches its 250th birthday, those same principles feel urgently relevant. Too many companies have drifted from their core mission—creating value, employing people, innovating, and building prosperity—toward divisive social and political activism.

We believe this drift is neither inevitable nor irreversible. In the spirit of the Buttonwood Agreement, we work to restore confidence in the marketplace. We provide data, research, and analysis on corporate behavior and governance. We convene coalitions that help companies resist activist pressure and refocus on sound governance, neutrality on contested issues, and long-term value creation for shareholders, customers, and employees.

Today, I’m excited to launch The Buttonwood Brief—our new biweekly email newsletter.

The Buttonwood Brief will deliver concise updates, key insights, and actionable information on how 1792 Exchange is helping businesses get back to business. You’ll learn about our latest research, corporate engagement wins, emerging trends in governance, and practical steps leaders can take to strengthen their companies and our economy.

We hope this newsletter becomes a trusted resource as we celebrate America’s semiquincentennial by recommitting to the principles that made our nation prosperous: liberty, integrity, and enterprise.

Thank you for your partnership in this important work.

Best regards,

Doug Napier

Executive Chairman & CEO

Corporate Engagement

1792 Exchange, working with our partners including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Heritage Foundation, Inspire Investing, and Bowyer Research, has been facilitating the participation of detransitioners at major corporate annual meetings, including Home Depot, Merck, and IBM. These individuals have provided critical testimony on shareholder proposals concerning gender medical interventions for minors.

This engagement is part of our broader initiative to encourage corporations to return to ideological neutrality on divisive social issues, thereby better protecting shareholders, employees, customers, and families.

Recent Highlights: New 1792 Exchange Website

1792 Exchange has rebuilt its digital home to give corporate leaders, investors, and consumers faster access to data that matters. New features include the new option to select any state to view an overview of company headquarters, average Corporate Bias Ratings, state leadership insights, and pension fund summaries.