Apple investors to have more say on executive compensation

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Apple said Monday that a proposal to give investors a greater say over compensation for top executives was approved during its recent shareholders meeting, correcting an earlier filing from the company which reported that the motion had failed.



The Cupertino-based company said it incorrectly reported the voting percentages for all four of the shareholder-submitted proposals during the February 25th meeting because it accidently counted all abstentions as "No" votes.



"Very shortly after the original filing, the company learned that these votes had been incorrectly tallied and an internal investigation confirmed the mistake was due to human error, which Apple regrets," the company said in a statement. "Today’s amendment correctly reports the voting results."



As a result of the corrected vote count, Shareholder Proposal No. 5 Regarding Advisory Vote on Compensation, known as “Say on Pay,” was approved with approximately 51.63% of the shares present or represented and voting.



Proposed this year by the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan, a public health union which holds over 21,000 Apple shares, the resolution will give all company shareholders an advisory vote on executive pay packages.



Apple's directors has long recommended investors vote down the proposal, which has failed in years' past, arguing that setting executive compensation is the job of the board itself, and that limitations imposed by shareholder voting could have an adverse impact on the company's ability to recruit and retain top talent.



For their part, many investors have maintained that existing U.S. corporate governance arrangements, including SEC rules*and stock exchange listing standards, do not provide shareholders with enough mechanisms for providing input to boards on senior executive compensation.



This is contrary to practices over in the United Kingdom, where public companies allow shareholders to cast an advisory vote on the directors’ remuneration report, which discloses executive compensation. Such a vote is not binding but gives shareholders a clear voice that could help shape senior executive compensation.



"The Compensation Committee of Apple’s Board of Directors has been closely following the Say on Pay issue, and anticipates that new laws or regulations will require some form of Say on Pay vote at all public companies in the near future," Apple said. "Even if that does not occur, Apple is committed to implementing an advisory Say on Pay vote next year."



The outcome of the the other four proposals raised during the recent Apple shareholders meeting were not affected by the incorrect vote tallies.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    So what are they going to do? Take Jobs dollar away?
  • Reply 2 of 11
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by .:R2theT View Post


    So what are they going to do? Take Jobs dollar away?



    Like most execs, he gets paid in perks and stock.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post


    Like most execs, he gets paid in perks and stock.



    Really?!
  • Reply 4 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by .:R2theT View Post


    Really?!



    Yes...like a $40 Million jet airliner (Which I believe Apple is STILL paying for!), the ability to travel anywhere in the world with it at anytime.



    Stock options is also gets...maybe not the options he wanted, but he still gets some.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    istinkistink Posts: 250member
    Well unlike AIG, at least apple did their job and the perks make sense.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iStink View Post


    Well unlike AIG, at least apple did their job and the perks make sense.



    Agreed! At least Apple is doing the things they should be doing as a company. IMO, they're deserved perks.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post


    Yes...like a $40 Million jet airliner (Which I believe Apple is STILL paying for!), the ability to travel anywhere in the world with it at anytime.



    Stock options is also gets...maybe not the options he wanted, but he still gets some.



    "The company doesn't reimburse Jobs for the perks that top executives usually get like home security systems or a chauffeur, but it did reward him in a big way in 1999 after he engineered an impressive turnaround at the company: Jobs' bonus that year was a $90 million Gulfstream V jet, whose operation Apple still helps pay for." (1)



    The plane was bought as a bonus for Jobs in 2000 at a, "?$90 million (one-time) charge (which) covers the purchase price of the plane plus all associated sales and income taxes that Jobs otherwise would have had to pay on the gift?."



    The operational costs when the plane is used in business is payed for by the company. Costs for operating the plane for pleasure would have to be borne by Jobs. If the company reimbursed him for personal trips, that amount would be reported as income for which he is subject to taxes.



    Note that Jobs received nothing from the time he returned in 1997 to 2000. (2)



    (1) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/apple/news...ectid=10551017

    (2) http://news.cnet.com/2100-1040-235835.html
  • Reply 8 of 11
    justbobfjustbobf Posts: 261member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by .:R2theT View Post


    So what are they going to do? Take Jobs dollar away?



    Special note to the note about Steve Jobs. I'm not saying if he deserves or does not deserve it; but, I remember reading just the other day that Jobs asked for and received about 7,000 shares of stock, which the company later decided to backdate to the day it was requested and falsify meeting records. Let's see, at today's price that would be about $868,000.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justbobf View Post


    but, I remember reading just the other day that Jobs asked for and received about 7,000 shares of stock, which the company later decided to backdate to the day it was requested and falsify meeting records.



    Try again because you are clueless.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Not really sure how this benefits Apple at this time. I wonder if the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan proposal is some kind of backdoor attempt to unionize Apple?
  • Reply 11 of 11
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by justbobf View Post


    Special note to the note about Steve Jobs. I'm not saying if he deserves or does not deserve it; but, I remember reading just the other day that Jobs asked for and received about 7,000 shares of stock, which the company later decided to backdate to the day it was requested and falsify meeting records. Let's see, at today's price that would be about $868,000.



    He never received that one, but he did get others.



    And when an executive proves his or her value to the company, they should be given proper compensation.



    But sometimes this can go way too far.



    I don't remember his name, or the name of his company, but one guy who heads up a hedge firm was given $2.5 billion last year. Yes, that's billion.



    There were several others who were given around $500 million each from several other companies.



    Value? I don't think so.



    I think that people who really do contribute to a company's wealth, and therefor to the stockholders wealth, and at the same time can show that they've strengthened the company's FUTURE position vs the rest of the industry deserve excellent compensation.



    So far, Jobs has shown that.
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