Corporate Governance was founded in 1995 and we have never run a contest… until now. Announcing the Foxhole of the Year Award for the company that makes it the most difficult for shareowners turn up at their annual meeting. Our first nomination came from John Chevedden for FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE). According to the $17 billion company: […]
Tag Archives | John Chevedden
Foxhole of the Year Nominee
James McRitchie, April 2, 2013 ,
Shareowner activist John Chevedden suggested the first nomination for a company avoiding its owners this proxy season. (more…)
Walgreens (WAG): How I Voted – Proxy Score 24
James McRitchie, January 2, 2013 ,
Walgreens ($WAG) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 1/9/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I voted on 1/1/2012. I voted with management only 24% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank will be voted in […]
UNFI Vote: Have We Turned the Corner on Annual Elections?
James McRitchie, December 24, 2012 ,
My proposal to declassify the board at United Natural Foods, Inc. ($UNFI) passed by an overwhelming margin of 87.89%: 38,086,048 for 5,248,963 against See their 8-K filing. Text (pdf) of proposal and opposition. Of course, the margin would have been even higher without insider holdings and blank votes going to management. Have we turned the corner on declassification measures […]
UNFI Locked Out ShareOwners but We Voted to Declassify the Board: Company Now Seeks Feedback on Meeting Format
James McRitchie, December 13, 2012 ,
I attended a virtual-only meeting of United Natural Foods, Inc. yesterday and was pleased that a majority of shares were voted in favor of my proposal to declassify the board. That, combined with a move to majority vote requirements for directors a few years ago, helps move UNFI ($UNFI) into the center of the pack […]
Victory at Procter & Gamble
James McRitchie, October 10, 2012 ,
At yesterdays annual meeting, shareowners voted in favor of my wife’s proposal to repeal supermajority standards, such as the 80% standard needed to change or add board members. (more…)
Proxy Access Moves Forward: Forest Labs, Medtronic & H&R Block
James McRitchie, August 1, 2012 ,
The cartoon at left accompanied an article entitled Where are the funds? (Pensions & Investments, 3/5/2012) P&I lamented, “instead of sitting on the sidelines, activist investors should take advantage of the opportunity to file access proposals… proxy access proponents must be adventurous.” We are going to use the key; adventure is on the way. As I […]
Google: How I Voted – Proxy Score 42
James McRitchie, June 18, 2012 ,
Google ($GOOG) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/21/2012. Voting ends 6/20 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 9 recommendations “from good causes,” including 3 consolidations, when I checked and voted on 6/17/2012. ProxyDemocracy.org had information on 5 funds voting. I voted with management 42% of the time. (more…)
Proxy Access: Two Proposals Filed, More USPX Members Needed
James McRitchie, November 16, 2011 ,
The first USPX type proxy access proposal was submitted by Kenneth Steiner (with help from John Chevedden and other members of USPX), which went to MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (WFR) on 11/11/2011. Here’s the Whereas portion (the rest is the same as the standard USPX proposal). WHEREAS, Most long-term shareowners have no reasonable means to […]
Will Netflix Listen to Shareowners?
James McRitchie, June 30, 2011 ,
eBay moved to eliminate supermajority requirements in its bylaws at its first regularly scheduled meeting after shareowners approved a ballot measure by John Chevedden. So far, no real word from Netflix on whether or not they will heed the will of shareowners. It is great to see this issue covered by Bocco Pendola in Seeking […]
Documenting Share Ownership to File Resolutions
James McRitchie, September 14, 2010 ,
Hoping to put an end to the efforts by certain executives to frustrate the ability of shareowners to submit proposals, I joined with John Chevedden and Glyn Holton in providing written advice to Meredith Cross, Director Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC, on a proposed staff legal bulletin interpreting Rule 14a-8(b)(2). Our letter explains […]
Abusive Practices Continue as VIFs Tilt Voting in Favor of Management
James McRitchie, April 2, 2010 ,
SEC Rule 14a-4(a)(3) states the proxy “shall identify clearly and impartially each separate matter intended to be acted upon, whether or not related to or conditioned on the approval of other matters, and whether proposed by the registrant or by security holders.” Broadridge claims they don’t have to follow the rules required for proxies because […]
Hyperbolic Message With Unconstrained Abandon: Apache v Chevedden
James McRitchie, March 10, 2010 ,
As regular readers know, I’ve joined with Glyn Holton of the United States Proxy Exchange (USPX) recently in defending a direct assault on shareowner rights that came in the guise of a lawsuit by Apache, a $33 billion company, against John Chevedden. (see Who Should Submit Shareowner Proposals?, HLS Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial […]
Apache v Chevedden: SEC Rules Don't Reflect Reality
James McRitchie, January 21, 2010 ,
I was delighted to see Broc Romanek coverage of the controversy surrounding Apache v Chevedden, although he did so in a members only area of theCorporateCounsel.net. I hope the case gets a lot of attention. Yesterday, I was discussing a table I am working on that shows some of the rights denied to street name […]
Proxy Access: The Letters Are In
James McRitchie, October 1, 2009 ,
The deadline was August 17th, so the comment letters on proxy access have all been filed and posted. Many are well worth reading. If you don’t see yours posted, you might want to resubmit it. TIAA-CREF, one of the more conservative shareowner activists, calls on the Commission to raise the threshold to 5% for shareowners at all […]