Labor union votes against Steve Jobs' reelection to Disney board
A prominent federation of labor unions has voted against the reelection of Steve Jobs to the board of directors of the Walt Disney Co., while an influential shareholder advisory firm has questioned whether Jobs is fit to remain on the company's board.
Ahead of the Walt Disney Co.'s annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reports that the labor union federation AFL-CIO, which collectively holds 3.8 million Disney shares, has voted against the reelection of Jobs to the media conglomerate's board of directors. Representatives for the union cited Jobs' full-time responsibilities as chief executive at Apple and recent absenteeism, partially due to recent medical complications, as reasons to vote against him.
According to the report, shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services stopped short of recommending a vote against Jobs, but questioned whether Jobs' poor attendance at Disney board meetings in recent years has affected his performance as a director.
?Jobs? poor attendance in three of the past four years, and recent leave of absence from his primary employer, raises questions about his ability to fulfill his responsibilities as a director of the company,? ISS wrote in a recommendation to shareholders.
A January regulatory filing from Disney noted that health considerations had prevented Jobs from attending board meetings. After battling pancreatic cancer in 2004, Jobs received a liver transplant in 2009. In January, Jobs announced that he would take a leave of absence from Apple to focus on his health. Jobs remains the CEO of the company, while COO Tim Cook has taken over the day to day operations.
Jobs earned his seat on the Disney board in 2006 as part of a deal whereby the conglomerate purchased Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. With more than a 50 percent stake in Pixar, Jobs' subsequent 7 percent stake in Disney was valued at $4 billion in 2006. Last August, Forbes estimated Jobs' share of the Walt Disney Co. to be worth $4.4 billion and his total worth to be $6.2 billion, making him the 42nd wealthiest American according to the magazine's annual list.
For its part, Apple has also come under fire from shareholders who demand greater disclosure from the company about Jobs. ISS and the Central Laborers' Pension Fund backed a shareholder proposal that called for Apple to release a CEO succession plan, citing concerns over Jobs' health as cause for greater transparency. However, the proposal was rejected at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in February.
Ahead of the Walt Disney Co.'s annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Wednesday, The Los Angeles Times reports that the labor union federation AFL-CIO, which collectively holds 3.8 million Disney shares, has voted against the reelection of Jobs to the media conglomerate's board of directors. Representatives for the union cited Jobs' full-time responsibilities as chief executive at Apple and recent absenteeism, partially due to recent medical complications, as reasons to vote against him.
According to the report, shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services stopped short of recommending a vote against Jobs, but questioned whether Jobs' poor attendance at Disney board meetings in recent years has affected his performance as a director.
?Jobs? poor attendance in three of the past four years, and recent leave of absence from his primary employer, raises questions about his ability to fulfill his responsibilities as a director of the company,? ISS wrote in a recommendation to shareholders.
A January regulatory filing from Disney noted that health considerations had prevented Jobs from attending board meetings. After battling pancreatic cancer in 2004, Jobs received a liver transplant in 2009. In January, Jobs announced that he would take a leave of absence from Apple to focus on his health. Jobs remains the CEO of the company, while COO Tim Cook has taken over the day to day operations.
Jobs earned his seat on the Disney board in 2006 as part of a deal whereby the conglomerate purchased Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion. With more than a 50 percent stake in Pixar, Jobs' subsequent 7 percent stake in Disney was valued at $4 billion in 2006. Last August, Forbes estimated Jobs' share of the Walt Disney Co. to be worth $4.4 billion and his total worth to be $6.2 billion, making him the 42nd wealthiest American according to the magazine's annual list.
For its part, Apple has also come under fire from shareholders who demand greater disclosure from the company about Jobs. ISS and the Central Laborers' Pension Fund backed a shareholder proposal that called for Apple to release a CEO succession plan, citing concerns over Jobs' health as cause for greater transparency. However, the proposal was rejected at Apple's annual shareholder meeting in February.
Comments
He probably has enough shares to stay in but if they vote him out, he can sell his Disney shares and invest in Apple. Let's see how that Labor Union likes them Apples.
Time will tell.
Out of 1.9 Billion shares of Disney they own 3.8 million. Bravo! A whopping .2% of the stock!
It's like Apple kicking out the guy behind Lisa and Macintosh....
Steve Jobs, Apple, and Pixar are intertwined so much, is it really necessary for SJ to actually be on location?
Shortsighted individuals.
Oddly, this is similar to Steve's position at Apple; his annual salary is one dollar.
At least Steve brought something to the table: Pixar. Without them, Disney would have been a world of pain relying on their own animations.
Don't have to show up to a meeting, sweet.
Whoopi!
Out of 1.9 Billion shares of Disney they own 3.8 million. Bravo! A whopping .2% of the stock!
Yes that's funny as Jobs has over 100 million shares in Disney I believe. A bit of a discrepancy in voting strength right there.
Well since ISS failed to get any interest in their scheme over at the Apple shareholders conference, they will take it out on Jobs directly by attacking him at Disney - and they got the venerable AFL-CIO to buy into their little scheme. Obviously something about how Jobs is running Apple is scaring these folks...
And it won't matter as the rest of the shareholders will soundly vote this motion down.
Steve
Slap in the face much? Wnder what they'd say if he decided to take Pixar off the table and just go else where.
Disney owns Pixar. He will have to buy it back to take it elsewhere.
"I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way," Jobs said. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy."
He also didn't care if it lost Apple some sales in that state:
"Apple just lost some business in this state, I'm sure," Jobs said.
I am glad that the public unions in this country are currently under attack. It's time to disband the thugs. They are leeches on society and they should be destroyed completely.
Steve Jobs is a smart guy, he was against those thugs years ago. They should be met with harsh force if they resort to violence and illegal behavior.
Yes that's funny as Jobs has over 100 million shares in Disney I believe. A bit of a discrepancy in voting strength right there.
Jobs cannot vote for himself.
Steve Jobs has spoken out strongly against teacher's unions before and I admire him for speaking his mind against these organized thugs and underachievers a few years ago. Maybe that has something to do with unions not liking Steve Jobs? If you go to the homepage of the union which is against Steve Jobs being on the Disney board, http://www.aflcio.org , they are strongly defending the public union thugs in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, which includes a lot of teachers unions.
"I believe that what is wrong with our schools in this nation is that they have become unionized in the worst possible way," Jobs said. This unionization and lifetime employment of K-12 teachers is off-the-charts crazy."
He also didn't care if it lost Apple some sales in that state:
"Apple just lost some business in this state, I'm sure," Jobs said.
I am glad that the public unions in this country are currently under attack. It's time to disband the thugs. They are leeches on society and they should be destroyed completely.
Steve Jobs is a smart guy, he was against those thugs years ago. They should be met with harsh force if they resort to violence and illegal behavior.
Well if anyone knows anything about being an unscrupulous thug, it's Steve Jobs.
Well if anyone knows anything about being an unscrupulous thug, it's Steve Jobs.
He's a demanding guy and knows what he wants. There's nothing wrong with that. He also demands a lot from those working for him. I can see how public unions and their allies would be against that, as they are all about doing as little as possible and stealing as much money as they can from the tax payers.
He's a demanding guy and knows what he wants. There's nothing wrong with that. He also demands a lot from those working for him. I can see how public unions and their allies would be against that, as they are all about doing as little as possible and stealing as much money as they can from the tax payers.
yes, those greedy teachers with their $50K salaries. Funny how no one goes after principals and superintendents making over $100K (and we all know administrators do very little compared to the grunt workers). I'm sure Jobs would like everyone in America to be like the Chinese employees at Foxconn...subservient, non-threatening, intimidated, and stressed to the breaking point like most wage slaves.