shareholders' meeting

CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Apple CEO Tim Cook tried to reassure shareholders today, saying that the company was disappointed by its falling stock price but also that Apple is committed to its long-term strategy.

The meeting itself, which took place here this morning, was business as usual.

As expected, shareholders voted to re-elect all eight of Apple's board members. That includes Andrea Jung, Apple's only female board member, who was forced to resign as the chief executive of Avon last year and now serves as a senior adviser for the beauty products company.

The stakes were a bit higher … Read more

Apple opens up its doors to shareholders tomorrow, an annual event that's been home to everything from group renditions of "happy birthday" to environmental protesters donning giant iPod costumes.

It's also home to formalities like re-electing board members, choosing Apple's accounting firm, as well as a chance for executives to dodge the inevitable shareholder questions about products the company is working on.

This year is a little different though. Shareholders were set to vote on something that's no longer on the table following a lawsuit filed against Apple earlier this month.

Greenlight Capital, a … Read more

CUPERTINO, Calif.--Apple this morning, at the start of its annual shareholders meeting, announced that the company is adopting a new policy requiring its directors to win a majority vote before being elected to the board.

The announcement preempted a related shareholder motion that had been proposed for the meeting.

Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell said the board has gone against this policy for years due to the complexity it adds, but that shareholders over the past few years have been overwhelmingly for it.

"This is Apple and we don't let complexity get in the way," Sewell … Read more

Yahoo today held its annual shareholder meeting, and although the company touted its growth in some areas, it failed to discuss some of the hot-button issues on the minds of investors.

That was made clear by a shareholder who took aim at Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz during the meeting's question-and-answer session. The investor told Bartz that he wanted to discuss "the elephant in the room"--namely, recent rumors that Yahoo's board of directors is secretly considering replacing Bartz with another CEO.

Yahoo failed to discuss the rumor during the investors meeting, though chairman Roy Bostock said … Read more

Hewlett-Packard shareholders shook off the warning from a shareholder advisory group that HP's board members-elect were too chummy with the company's new CEO, and approved each of them as new directors today.

HP's annual shareholder meeting, which was available via Webcast, took place at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Va. Despite one of the more dramatic years in HP's history, today's meeting in no way reflected it.

Shumeet Banerji, CEO of Booz & Company; Gary Reiner, former CIO at GE; Patricia Russo, former CEO of Alcatel-Lucent; Dominique Senequier, CEO of AXA Private Equity; and … Read more

CUPERTINO, Calif.--Apple shareholders today rejected a proposal that would have required the company to disclose its succession plan for senior management.

The proposal was one of two by shareholders aimed at adding transparency and a new voting standard to what is considered one of the most secretive technology companies. In its proxy materials ahead of the meeting, Apple's board had urged shareholders to vote against both proposals.

As expected, Jobs was not present during the meeting. In his place was Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, who has filled in for Jobs since January when Jobs, a pancreatic cancer … Read more

Apple is once again being asked to discuss what the company would do without CEO Steve Jobs.

Apple said today in regulatory filings that it was informed that Central Laborers' Pension Fund, which owns over 11,000 shares of Apple stock, plans to submit a proposal at Apple's annual shareholder's meeting on February 23, that if passed would require Apple to "adopt and disclose a written and detailed succession planning policy."

Apple's board of directors said in the filings that it has recommended shareholders vote against the proposal. They say they have already established a … Read more

Highlighting recent product successes like the launch of Kinect and Windows Phone 7, Microsoft today painted an upbeat picture for shareholders at the company's annual meeting.

That, of course, didn't quell the usual grumblings from shareholders about things like stock prices and dividends, including one suggestion that the company be split into pieces.

Like in years past, CEO Steve Ballmer opened the meeting by giving a brief overview of the company's product launches and financial accomplishments, including Microsoft's record $16.2 billion in revenue, shares being up 30 percent from the same time last year, and … Read more

CUPERTINO, Calif.--The presence of one of the world's pre-eminent environmentalists at Apple's shareholder meeting Thursday was the subject of much of the morning's pointed discussion.

As expected, Apple's attitude on environmental and sustainability issues was one of the main concerns of the stockholders present Thursday, followed closely by the company's immense pile of cash. But early harsh comments about former Vice President Al Gore's record set the tone.

Gore was seated in the first row, along with his six fellow board members, in Apple's Town Hall auditorium as several stockholders took turns … Read more