In a piece of recent news, Amazon’s investor-led proposal to review its use of plastic has won a majority of support despite shareholders voting down the resolutions at the annual general meeting.
Garnering Majoritarian Support
According to a recent regulatory filing, Amazon Inc’s investor-led proposal to review its use of plastic won 49% support even as shareholders voted down all the 15 resolutions at the e-commerce giant’s annual general meeting.
According to various reports, Amazon’s investor-led proposal was the only proposal that came close to reaching the 51% mark for approval. Investors opposed resolutions that challenged the company’s policies on various issues, including the treatment of workers and the use of non-disclosure agreements. To be sure, about 13% of the company’s voting stock is controlled by Founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, raising the bar for any effort to win a majority of investor support.
Amazon’s Investor-led Proposal
The proposal was put forth for a report on whether Amazon cloud, surveillance and other capabilities contribute to human rights violations. Essentially, the investor-led proposal won 40% support. But an overwhelming 87% voted down a proposal calling for Amazon to review worker safety.
Only 39% of votes were in favor of a resolution related to the unionization of workers, but 47% backed a report on whether Amazon’s lobbying activities were consistent with the best interest of the shareholders.
A move to review Amazon’s facial recognition technology got 41% votes in favor, while a report for more details on gender and racial pay managed to get support from just 29% of the shareholders.
The resolutions are non-binding, but companies often take some form of action if they receive the backing of 30% to 40% of the votes cast.
Separately, investors backed the company’s proposal to approve executive compensation, elect director nominees and consider a stock split by a big margin.
