HOW SHAREHOLDER VOTES ARE LEGALLY RIGGED

摘要

Most shareholders would have given up a long time ago, but not Evelyn Y. Davis. Every year since 1985, the corporate gadfly from Washington, D.C., has asked Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. shareholders to approve a proposal that would force the company to eliminate staggered board elections and elect its entire board of directors annually. Designed to increase accountability, the proposal has passed by a majority of votes cast at the annual meeting for six consecutive years, garnering 69% on May 7. Yet nothing has changed. "It's ridiculous how they ignore the wishes of stockholders," says Davis. "You just keep trying and hope that some day they'll see the light."