2025 has been a watershed year across the GRC profession. Deregulation has taken center stage, shifting more power to the boardroom and dialing back DEI and ESG requirements. That pivot is reflected clearly in the stories Governance Intelligence readers clicked on most over the last 12 months.
Our most-read piece of the year was a Governance Matters podcast episode featuring Neil McCarthy, co-founder and chief product officer of DragonGC. McCarthy unpacked the SEC’s recent enforcement cases involving disclosures around executive perks – including aircraft use – and why companies now considering more robust reporting on personal security in the wake of the 2024 shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Johnson.
Next up was coverage of a report from SquareWell Partners, which found that investors overwhelmingly point to poor governance practices as the top driver of shareholder activism and that governance-related changes are often both a response to activist pressure and an opportunity to unlock value.
In third place was a resurging 2023 article highlighting research showing that workplace sexual harassment can significantly erode firm value, far beyond the impact of headline scandals. The piece also explored how companies with at least one Gen X director tend to outperform peers, particularly when investing heavily in R&D.
A standout winter story was the announcement of the winners of the 2025 Corporate Governance Awards. Sallie Mae and VEON led the pack, taking home two trophies each.
A contributed feature from Jamie Smith, director of board matters, investor outreach and corporate governance at EY Americas Center, also resonated with readers. Smith argued that boards navigating today’s uncertainty need agility, boldness and genuine debate – offering practical examples of what that looks like in action.
Close behind was our analysis of the SEC’s decision to rescind its 2021 guidance on excluding Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals. The move opened the door for companies to more readily leave ESG and other social-policy proposals off proxy ballots.
News of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s longtime general counsel Sandra Leung retiring after more than 30 years with the company also drew strong interest.
Another widely read item was Board Intelligence’s Board Value Index, which found that 46 percent of directors in both the US and UK believe their boards don’t add enough value. We spoke with CEO Pippa Begg, who noted that ‘one of the things that is woefully underrepresented in boards is conversation around innovation and growth.’
Early in the year, readers closely followed the news that Deere & Company would face two contrasting shareholder proposals at its 2025 AGM, putting investor sentiment on diversity and inclusion to the test. As You Sow pushed Deere to publicly report diversity outcomes as a marker of fairness and meritocracy.
And finally, a major regulatory moment: widespread interest in the SEC’s move to pause litigation over its 2024 climate-related disclosure rule. The pause leaves the rule, which would have required companies to report greenhouse-gas emissions and climate-risk, firmly in limbo.
Taken together, the year’s most-read stories reveal a clear through-line: 2025 was defined by a pullback in regulation, heightened scrutiny of board effectiveness and a growing emphasis on how governance choices shape real business outcomes.
Readers gravitated toward pieces that explained shifting SEC stances, explored the value boards can (or fail to) deliver and unpacked how governance practices are evolving in a more deregulatory, risk-aware landscape.