Ameritech Corp. shareholders at today's annual meeting in Chicago overwhelmingly voted for the annual election of all its directors, ending the staggered three-year terms in effect since the company's founding in 1983.
The proposal, which 84% of the shares supported in the vote, had been introduced as a dissident resolution in eight previous annual meetings, failing each time but gaining increased support. This year, management sponsored the proposal.
Shareholders also voted to give Ameritech the authority to issue up to 2.4 billion shares of stock, up from the current 1.2 billion shares. It now has 556 million shares outstanding. Richard C. Notebaert, Ameritech's chairman and CEO, said the authority may be used for a stock split and other purposes, although the company has no commitment to split the stock.
Also, after the meeting Mr. Notebaert announced at a news conference the start of a program to allow investors to buy and sell Ameritech stock directly from the company, both for initial and continuing purchases for as little as $100, thus avoiding the use of brokerage firms and commissions.
