Big Bloc of Dell Investors Back Call to Oust Chairman
Richard Waters confirms that our call for shareholders to withhold their votes from Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Inc, had a big impact–just over 25 percent of shareholders withheld their support for his appointment, an extremely high percentage for such a vote. Here’s his report on FT.com, Financial Times’ online news site:
A substantial minority of the shareholders of Dell, the world’s third-biggest PC maker, have backed an investor protest aimed at pressuring the company’s board into stripping founder Michael Dell of the title of chairman.
According to an official Dell filing late on Tuesday in the U.S., holders of 25.1 per cent of shares voted at the company’s annual meeting last week withheld their support for Mr Dell’s reappointment as a director. The protest vote was sizeable given the automatic reinstatement most U.S. directors receive.
The AFL-CIO and AFSCME asked Dell shareholders to withhold their votes from Michael Dell at the annual shareholder meeting. The AFL-CIO and AFSCME, which both own Dell shares, said the company would be better served by removing Michael Dell as chairman.
We cited both the company’s settlement of fraud complaints by the Securities and Exhange Commission (SEC) and the fact that Michael Dell received $453.8 million in total compensation including stock option exercises between 2000 and 2009–about $45,380,000 a year or $21,817 an hour for a 40-hour week with no overtime–while shareholders lost 66 percent of the value of their stock.
AFL-CIO, AFSCME Call for Removal of Dell Chairman
The AFL-CIO and AFSCME are asking Dell Inc. shareholders to withhold their votes from Michael Dell, the company’s chairman and CEO, at the annual shareholder meeting Aug. 12. The AFL-CIO and AFSCME, which both own Dell shares, say the company would be better served by removing Michael Dell as chairman.
Last month, Dell postponed its annual meeting to give shareholders time to consider a proposed settlement of a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC complaint alleged that payments from microprocessor manufacturer Intel were improperly disclosed to shareholders and that “cookie jar” reserve accounts had been manipulated. Under the proposed settlement, Dell Inc. agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and Michael Dell agreed to pay a $4 million penalty.
So-called cookie jar reserve accounts refer to an accounting practice in which a company uses generous reserves from good years against losses that might be incurred in bad years. The SEC prohibits cookie jar accounting by publicly traded companies because it misleads investors by understating earnings in good years and overstating in bad years.
The Truth About Taxes
Have you heard about the so-called “tea parties” happening today? Honchos of the extremist right are orchestrating top-down events to protest paying taxes for a proposed federal budget that’s designed to stimulate the nation’s flattened economy and support basic infrastructure and public services. Ironies abound in these protests: In some areas, protestors are urged to take public transportation to the events. Key word here is “public,” as in paid for by taxpayers.
The media talking heads pushing these events are spewing a lot of venom toward a presidential administration they can’t control, one not beholden to special corporate interests. In doing so, their rhetoric is bordering on the treasonous: Fox’s Glenn Beck, who’s holding a $500-plate fundraiser for the San Antonio tea party, has begun advocating secession. (Hat tip to Media Matters for this and all its great work.)
