Apple Shareholders Approve Board-Sponsored Proposals; CEO Blasts Protesters

by , 5:10 PM EDT, April 21st, 2005

In its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, Apple Computer shareholders approved all of the proposals sponsored by the company's board of directors, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the opportunity to blasts environmentalists that have been protesting against the company. According to a report on the meeting by MacCentral, Mr. Jobs denied all of the charges the group has made about Apple's environmental policies, calling many of them "completely untrue," and "inaccurate."

Approved in procedural votes were measures to re-elect Apple's board of directors, to approve the company's performance plans, to ratify the company's choice of auditor, and to amend the employee stock option plan. All of these measures were backed by Apple's board of directors.

A proposal to consider any shareholder proposal properly presented at the meeting was not ratified. Also not ratified was a proposal for performance and time-based restricted share grant program for senior executives.

When criticized for his company's environmental policies by activist shareholders belonging to the Computer TakeBack Campaign, CEO Steve Jobs fired back by saying the group's demands and claims were either already in place, or simply not true.

Among the group's demands is that Apple should recycle Macs for free because Dell and HP recycle PCs for free. Mr. Jobs told shareholders that both companies actually charge for the service, and that Apple's price for its own recycling program was comparably priced.

He also denied that Apple ships its wastes overseas, and that the company uses forced labor overseas. He defended the iPod's rechargeable batteries as being environmentally friendly, as well.

MacCentral's coverage has more information on the environmental issues discussed at the meeting, including quotes from Mr. Jobs.

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in APPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.