Apple 2009 proxy statement

Apple has posted an online edition of its 2009 proxy statement, as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The document lays down the plan for the company's annual shareholders' meeting, which is scheduled for February 25th at 10 AM Pacific time, inside Building 4 of the Cupertino headquarters. Investors are being asked to re-elect Apple's current board of directors, which aside from CEO Steve Jobs includes seven others such as Al Gore and Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Apple has also detailed three shareholder proposals to be voted on, beginning with a Teamsters request a semi-annual report detailing policies and activities related involving political contributions. The union complains that while it can tell that Apple has spent at least $460,000 of company money on politics since 2002, it is unknown how much money may be going toward trade groups used for lobbying or other efforts.

Other proposals include a push for more universal and affordable corporate healthcare policies, as well as a motion calling for more comprehensive environmental reports on par with companies like Dell and IBM. Apple's board is urging people to reject all three proposals however, on the basis that it already does plenty in each regard and that extra efforts would be a waste of time and money.

The statement also details payouts to directors and executives, such as Jobs' salary, which remains at $1 per year; he is also listed as the company's biggest individual shareholder however, with 5,546,451 shares. The most influential party amongst investors is Fidelity Investments and its affiliates, which together own 46,458,462 shares, or 5.22 percent of the total available.

by MacNN Staff