Main Street’s Most Prolific Corporate Agitator Finds a New Battlefield In ESG

From his rented one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles’s Redondo Beach, a couple of blocks from a discount shop and a thrift store, John Chevedden is polishing a speech he’ll give to Alphabet Inc.'s executives and shareholders at its annual meeting next week.

The former aerospace employee is pressing the $1.4 trillion tech giant to address the hot-button issue of disinformation. Getting other shareholders to back Chevedden’s call, still a fledgling topic for most investors, may be a long shot. But for Main Street's most prolific corporate agitator, it's part of a new front he’s battling companies on — their impact on society.