International Business Machines Corp. shareholders defeated all five shareholder resolutions at the company’s annual meeting today in Kansas City, Mo., according to figures provided by Brian Doyle, IBM spokesman. Of them, expensing stock options got the largest vote in favor, 47%. Thirty-seven percent of shareholders in the Stamford, Conn.-based company voted for submitting poison pill anti-takeover measures to a shareholder vote; 30% voted for cumulative voting for directors; 18% voted in favor of a proposal to disregard pension fund income in calculating executive pay; and 14% voted to end age discrimination in retirement and medical benefits.
Of major pension fund investors, the $131 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, voted for all the shareholder proposals except expensing stock options; it abstained from that vote. The C$66.2 billion ($45.8 billion) Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Toronto, voted against all the proposals except those on poison pill measures and expensing options.
