Today is your last chance to vote for real proxy access at Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM, $WFM), unless you plan to attend the meeting in San Francisco tomorrow. The annual shareholder’s meeting will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason Street, San Francisco, California 94108 and will begin at 8 a.m. See Pension funds line up […]
In the wake of a New York Times story by Mark Oppenheimer about Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey’s relationship with former rabbi and alleged sex offender Marc Gafni, the company has come under scrutiny. (A Spiritual Leader Gains Stature, Trailed by a Troubled Past) On December 25th, The Times story reported Gafni saying of one […]
As I have mentioned in other posts (see especially Proxy Access Lite: Victories at Whole Foods, H&R Block), several companies have adopted proxy access ‘lite’ with provisions that make implementation excessively difficult and less effective than they would have been under the SEC’s universal proxy access Rule 14a-11. Although I withdrew proposals at several companies, based on the […]
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASD:WFM) is a retailer of natural and organic foods and grocer. The Company has one operating segment, natural and organic foods supermarkets and is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their next annual meeting is September 15, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted. I voted with the […]
If you thought 2015 was the year of proxy access, wait until you see next proxy season. These news stories on proxy proxy access are worthy of note but are in no way a comprehensive list of such posts. Proxy Access: New SEC Staff Paper 8/4/2014 Broc Romanek reports on a blog by Cooley’s Cydney Posner: (more…)
Whole Foods Market (WFM) has informed me, without any attempt to negotiate terms over my submitted proposal, their board went ahead in adopting proxy access bylaws. See 8-K and amended bylaws. They have asked if I now want to withdraw my proposal. As I did for H&R Block, below I attempt to weigh the pros and […]
My wife and I don’t have the resources to or stock holdings to allow us to file 75 proxy access shareholder proposals, like New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s Boardroom Accountability Project. However, I have been writing about proxy access for 20 years and, together with Les Greenberg, filed the petition in 2002 with the […]
Yesterday (2/10/2015), Corp Fin Director Keith Higgins delivered this interesting speech entitled “Rule 14a-8: Conflicting Proposals, Conflicting Views.” There are some really interesting things in this speech on counterproposals, etc., although there isn’t much that helps those companies grappling with proxy access shareholder proposals this proxy season (but there is some, such as #6 below). […]
I’m delighted to see “Discussion of Proxy Access” (11:05-12:05 p.m.) as one of the items on the agenda for the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee (SEC-IAC) at the upcoming February 12th meeting. I discuss two recommendations below. Take Action: Please submit your own and paste into comments below. See comments submitted. Proxy Access: Rule 14a-11 In light […]
The SEC has essentially suspended Rule 14a-8(i)(9) Conflicts with company’s proposal. Shareowners at Whole Foods Market and at many other companies have scored a huge victory. Last Friday the SEC issued the following: Statement from Chair White Directing Staff to Review Commission Rule for Excluding Conflicting Proxy Proposals Chair Mary Jo White Jan. 16, 2015 The […]
The Counsel of Institutional Investors (CII) took a very strong stand yesterday, asking Whole Foods Market to amend its proxy access proposal to conform with the “3 percent for three years” standard applicable to groups. Whole Foods appears to have generated their proposal in direct response to mine in order to obtain a no-action letter from the […]
… If the stockholder is to regard himself as a continuing part-owner of the business in which he has placed his money, he must be ready at times to act like a true owner and to make the decisions associated with ownership. If he wants his interests fully protected he must be willing to do […]
Whole Foods Market, Inc. $WFM is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/24/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org was down for maintenance when I checked and voted on 2/16/2013, so no voting advice there. Fortunately, I did get some help from PIRC. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
Five years ago in Corporate Governance Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI) says federal securities regulators are recommending that no action be taken against the grocery chain over anonymous postings on financial-news Web sites by its chief executive. Mackey’s postings, including many to CorpGov.net publisher James McRitchie, surfaced when they were included among a trove of […]