Shareholders approve 'say on pay' proposal
updated 05:10 pm EST, Tue March 4, 2008
Apple shareholder meeting
Apple shareholders today approved a non-binding resolution requesting the board of directors to provide shareholders with input on executive compensation. The proposal required a majority of votes from shareholders to pass, while another shareholder proposal to create a board committee on sustainability and environmental protection was rejected, according to News.com. Scott Adams, who represents the AFL-CIO, asked shareholders to demand a "say on pay" as a result of uncontrolled executive compensation.
"The U.S. system for paying the CEO is broken," Adams said.
Company CEO Steve Jobs quipped during an open question-and-answer session at the meeting: "I'm hoping the say on pay proposal will help me with my dollar a year."
Jobs' compensation as CEO of Apple is just $1 per year, a move that was enacted after reports surfaced on his prior status as the most well-payed CEO. Jobs receives stock grants as another form of compensation, however, and is a major shareholder of Apple Inc.
Compensation
03/04, 05:46pm reply
Maybe the union can control the profit growth this way as well...sigh....
nedlohs
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2004
wrong target
03/04, 08:24pm reply
Unlike executives at companies which are losing millions of dollars or suffering significant layoffs, and who are still collecting millions in salaries, I'd say Apple's board earns every penny they are paid.
ender
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 1999
I own I should get a say
03/04, 10:14pm reply
I think it's fair that the shareholders guide compensation. Note I said guide not set.
sixcolors
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2001
I voted for it
03/05, 09:48am reply
it's non-binding anyway but yes, it seems like Apple is one of the last companies where there is a potential issue of CEO getting dramatically overpaid for dramatic underperformance.
climacs
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2001
me too
03/05, 10:53am reply
The only downside is it is non-binding. But I voted for it partly because the BOD recommended you vote "No".
Heaven forbid the owners of a company have a say in how the company operates or compensates its people.
I also voted NO to Bill Campbell, but that probably didn't help any. How people can leave him on the board when his company is so mac-unfriendly is completely beyond me.
BTW, the article is wrong. Jobs' $1 salary was not put in place "after reports surfaced on his prior status as the most well-payed CEO." He's always been paid $1. His most well-payed part comes from his bonuses, plane, etc. (which is where most of the compensation given to CEOs come from).
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001