Vanguard is owned by the people who invest in its funds.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/110515/who-are-owners-vanguard-group.asp

However, because there are lots and lots of people who own these funds, it's not feasible for Vanguard to ask each investor for their votes when it comes time to vote on the companies that the fund themselves invest in. So Vanguard votes on companies using its own sets of rules. This does give Vanguard some power over the companies. It's kind of like a representative democracy. Instead of every investor directly voting on the companies, the investors delegate their power to Vanguard and Vanguard votes on their behalf. If you don't like how they vote, you can take your money out of Vanguard.

Vanguard publishes how they've been voting here: https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/dam/corp/advocate/investment-stewardship/pdf/policies-and-reports/2021_investment_stewardship_annual_report.pdf

Vanguard is owned by the people who invest in its funds.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/110515/who-are-owners-vanguard-group.asp

However, because there are lots and lots of people who own these funds, it's not feasible for Vanguard to ask each investor for their votes when it comes time to vote on the companies that the fund themselves invest in. So Vanguard votes on companies using its own sets of rules. This does give Vanguard some power over the companies. It's kind of like a representative democracy. Instead of every investor directly voting on the companies, the investors delegate their power to Vanguard and Vanguard votes on their behalf. If you don't like how they vote, you can take our money out of Vanguard.

Vanguard publishes how they've been voting here: https://corporate.vanguard.com/content/dam/corp/advocate/investment-stewardship/pdf/policies-and-reports/2021_investment_stewardship_annual_report.pdf