Apple shareholders vote down showing CEO succession plan
updated 01:40 pm EST, Wed February 23, 2011
Apple share meeting keeps CEO succession secret
Apple shareholders during the company's annual shareholder meeting voted down a measure that would have required a public CEO succession plan. The preliminary decision would let Apple keep Steve Jobs' eventual replacement a secret. Institutional Shareholder Services, a collective group, had called for the move to help them judge whether the Board of Directors was capable of handling a succession when ready.
The Mac maker has regularly insisted that it has a plan in place, but calls for it to be made public have grown louder in the face of Jobs' second medical leave and doubts about his ability to return. Unofficially, many believe COO Tim Cook is Jobs' heir and have pointed to him stepping in during both medical leaves as proof.
Along with the rejection, the company approved executive compensation and had a majority vote to maintain its Board of Directors. Ernst and Young has been reelected as Apple's accountant agency. The decisions were made based on 921 million voting shares, 81 percent of which were present at the meeting.
Jobs was absent from the meeting, but major board members such as former US Vice President Al Gore were present.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Good
Nothing good can come from us stockholders knowing who Job's replacement will be before it happens. Jobs is good for the stock. Who knows, though, about the next guy or gal. I understand the desire to know, and the obligation investment firms have to ask. But I'm glad cooler heads prevailed. Now my stock can go back to earning unbelievable returns without worrying about how Wall St. will be wrong about the next CEO the way they were about Jobs when he returned.