Chat Rooms are the key missing ingredient at virtual shareholder meetings. Virtual-only shareholder meetings increased dramatically (from 286 in 2019 to 2,200 so far in 2020) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chat rooms before and after meetings would allow shareholders to interact informally with each other and with corporate representatives, as they do at in-person […]
COVID-19 Scapegoat: AT&T Fears Virus Through Phone Lines? COVID-19 scapegoat – instant rationale for poor treatment of shareholder and proposal proponents at 2020 meetings. Like the President, they claim all the power but absolve themselves of any blame. AT&T (T) holds its annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday, April 24th. List of all virtual meetings kept by […]
Haranguing – A speech addressed to a large public assembly; a popular oration; a loud address to a multitude; in a bad sense, a noisy or pompous speech; declamation; ranting. A speech before a multitude or on the hustings. Once again, the Deal Professor blasts gadflies John Chevedden, James McRitchie and William Steiner – this time for haranguing […]
Virtual meetings are quickly being adopted by entrenched boards who fear any attempt by shareholders, especially retail shareholders, to hold them accountable. Annual meetings are the only place shareholders are likely to meet with the managers and boards of the companies they invest in, as well as with employees of those companies and with other […]
As mentioned before, I will be on a panel at the 2/19 SEC Roundtable discussing how to increase retail shareholder participation in the proxy process. I’ve been collecting a few thoughts with the help of readers. Time is a major constraint, so I will need to prioritize my main points and will probably end up […]
Glyn Holton, the executive director of USPX, once again expresses his concerns over efforts by Broadridge Financial Solutions to make virtual meetings palatable to shareowners. I urge you to (more…)
Ten years ago this month I posted a review of Monks, Robert A. G., The New Global Investors: How Shareowners Can Unlock Sustainable Prosperity Worldwide, Capstone Publishing, 2001. “His perspective is that of an aristocratic shareholder activist, not a street demonstrator against the World Trade Organization… Monks appears to believe, and I agree, that corporate control has been […]