Preliminary Apple Shareholder Results, Board Wins Approval [Update]

Apple’s annual shareholder meeting is still underway, but preliminary results are in for the measures that were up for a vote this year. Shareholders cast votes that shot down several measures, although they approved the current Board of Directors along with a new rule requiring a majority vote for new Board members.

  • FAILED Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation. Apple asked shareholders to vote yes on this non-binding proposal that gives input on executive pay.
  • FAILED (1.9% voted “For”) Conflict of Interest Report. Apple asked shareholders to vote no on this proposal put forth by The National Center for Public Policy Research, which wants Apple to assemble a report that discloses potential financial conflicts of interest among Board members. Specifically, the organization is concerned about Mr. Gore’s involvement in global warming regulations and Apple’s 2009 resignation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because the Chamber opposes the EPA on the matter.
  • FAILED (3.6% voted “For”) Shareholder Say on Director Pay. Apple asked shareholders to vote no on this proposal, which would provide a non-binding vote on the payments given to members of the company’s Board of Directors.
  • FAILED (16.46% voted “For”) Report on Political Contributions and Expenditures. Apple asked shareholders to vote no on this proposal that asks the company to provide a report covering, in part, “policies and procedures for political contributions and expenditures (both direct and indirect) made with corporate funds.”
  • APPROVED (80.35% voted “For”) Adopt a Majority Voting Standard for Director Elections. Apple asked shareholders to vote no on this proposal, which asks that director nominees to the Board be elected by a majority vote.
  • APPROVED Election of Directors. Apple asked shareholders to vote yes for the nomination of William Campbell, Tim Cook, Millard Drexler, Al Gore, Robert Iger, Andrea Jung, Arthur Levinson, and Ronald Sugar to the company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Levinson is currently Chairman of the Board.

Apple logoApple had hoped to convince shareholders to shoot down the measure requiring a majority vote for Board member approval. Shareholders, however, decided they wanted a bigger say in who sits on the Board. Ultimately, it looks like the votes went the way Apple wanted for about half of the measures this year.

With only preliminary voting numbers in on the measures there’s a chance the final results could change, but based on previous shareholder meetings it’s likely there won’t be any surprise reversals.

[Update: The article was updated with the preliminary vote percentages for the shareholder proposals. - Editor]