Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund Pressures Microsoft to Limit Support for Israel

SadaNews - The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund is pressuring the American software company Microsoft over its activities in Israel. According to Calcalist, this move comes amid indications that Microsoft technologies "were likely used by the Israeli army in attacks on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

The fund, which manages assets worth two trillion dollars and is the largest in the world, announced that it would support a proposal at the annual shareholders' meeting of Microsoft this coming Friday. Under the proposal, the fund demands that the American company publish a report on the risks associated with operations in countries where there are concerns about human rights violations.

The report indicates that the "ECO" organization, which presented the proposal, asserts that the goal is to force Microsoft to disclose the effectiveness of its monitoring measures related to human rights, "especially in light of evidence that Microsoft technologies and its cloud computing infrastructure were probably employed to serve the Israeli army during the attacks on Palestinian territories."

Opposition to the CEO Position and Compensation Plan

According to Calcalist, the Norwegian fund intends not only to support the human rights proposal but also plans to vote against the reappointment of CEO Satya Nadella as chairman of the board, as well as against his financial compensation package.

The fund stated in an official announcement posted on its website that "Microsoft's board of directors must take into account the material risks facing the company, as well as the extensive environmental and social implications of its activities and products."

Calcalist notes that the fund usually rejects granting large compensation packages to executives and had previously opposed the inflated salary package for Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla.

Continued Escalation Against Companies Linked to Israel

Calcalist records that the Norwegian fund's stance is not new, having recently taken a series of steps of an "anti-Israel" nature, as described by the newspaper, most notably:

- Selling its stakes in 13 Israeli companies last August based on recommendations from its ethics committee.

- Announcing in September that Microsoft had blocked access for the Israeli Intelligence Unit 8200 to some of its cloud services.

The newspaper emphasizes that these developments show a clear shift in the fund's direction toward tightening ethical restrictions on investments related to activities associated with Israeli military practices.

Huge Ownership Affecting Voting Power

According to data collected by Calcalist based on SadaNews monitoring using the "LSEG" platform, the Norwegian fund owned a 1.35% stake in Microsoft at the end of June, valued at 50 billion dollars, making Microsoft the fund's second largest investment after "NVIDIA."

The newspaper adds that the fund is the eighth largest shareholder in Microsoft globally, giving it actual influence in voting on the upcoming decision.

Calcalist concludes by noting the upcoming shareholders' meeting amid a highly sensitive climate, where Microsoft faces increasing criticism regarding its role in the technological infrastructure believed to have been used in Israeli military operations, amidst rising global human rights pressure.