August 1st, 2008
Yahoo’s shareholders chance to talk
In most cases, a shareholder’s meeting is usually a sleeper. But today, all eyes are on Yahoo’s meeting, underway now at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. It’s up in the air as to how much excitement there will be now that the company and investor Carl Icahn, who is not in attendance, have settled their differences.
The first part of the meeting - before the anticipated Q&A session - is “business as usual,” including proposals for the company. Among them was a presentation by the city of New York’s controller, speaking on behalf of the New York City Pension Fund. It was concerned about Yahoo’s participation in what he called human rights abuses, notably turning over personal information about account holders to the Chinese government. Last year, the World Organization for Human Rights USA in Washington filed suit against Yahoo for abetting the torture of pro-democracy writers in China.
The company was also criticized for its executive compensation plan and shareholders called for a revamping of it.
Official voting began at 10:25 a.m. As shareholders cast ballots, people in the audience took to the microphone to discuss the proposals.
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
