u/SlaughterTheOligarch

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Dear Mr. Jaye, <---Sr VP of Investor Relations

I am writing to you to request further clarity regarding The Sherwin-Williams Company's lobbying expenditures and your corporate approach to political transparency.

While the company's compliance with direct lobbying disclosure is understood, public transparency reports and recent shareholder resolutions have highlighted a growing concern among investors regarding indirect political spending. Disclosures show that Sherwin-Williams spent approximately $2.9 million on direct federal lobbying between 2020 and 2023, alongside significant state-level expenditures. However, there remains a concerning lack of visibility into corporate funds routed through third-party groups and trade associations, such as the National Association of Manufacturers.

Because these indirect funds are not fully itemized in public filings, it is difficult for investors to accurately assess the company's true lobbying footprint. To help ease the minds of investors and ensure complete corporate governance, I am hoping to gather more information on the following points:

·Trade Association Allocations: What portion of Sherwin-Williams' financial contributions to trade associations and 501(c)(4) social welfare groups is actively utilized for lobbying and grassroots political campaigns?

·Advocacy Alignment: How does the company monitor and ensure that the lobbying conducted by these third-party groups, whether concerning chemical regulations like TSCA, corporate tax policies, or historical liability, strictly aligns with Sherwin-Williams' expressed corporate values and shareholder interests?

·Future Disclosure Plans: Given the recurring shareholder resolutions demanding comprehensive annual reporting on "dark money" and trade association payments, what proactive steps is Sherwin-Williams planning to take to improve transparency and address these investor concerns?

Investors increasingly view the full disclosure of political and lobbying activities as a vital component of risk management. Misalignments between stated corporate goals and unitemized lobbying efforts present a reputational risk that could ultimately impact shareholder value.

Thank you for your time and your leadership in Investor Relations. I look forward to learning more about how Sherwin-Williams plans to navigate and improve its transparency initiatives moving forward.

Sincerely,

(Pseudonym here)

Independent Shareholder Advocate

Fidelity is very good at managing your assets. That's the one thing I'll give Sherwin credit for. Our stock performance, however, leaves much to be desired. You can still have SW match up to 6% of your 401k, but you can have Fidelity manage your 401k by using what you pay into your 401k by putting it into the market as a whole instead of leaving it all in SW. They take fees for this service, but it's percentage based and not a flat fee. They're encouraged to earn you as much as possible so they make as much as possible too. They've outperformed SW for two years now.

Because it lets you know that they're completely full of shit. Say for instance that everyone took their advice and a large swath of employees quit. Then the shithead that said "leave" is remarkably understaffed, maybe even so much that their store begins to struggle. They work every day and they hate it. They feel like the conditions suck and all they want is a little change within the company to help relieve their burden, but then they realize that they should take their own advice and just leave. Yet they won't because all it would take are just a few changes and everything could be so much better.