After investor drama, Apple shareholder meeting is anticlimactic

Shareholder meetings are typically colossally boring affairs, and Apple’s annual meeting Wednesday morning in Cupertino, Calif. didn’t deviate from this truism of the business world.

And this was despite fireworks over the weeks leading up the meeting: a federal judge issued an injunction on one of the company’s shareholder proposals after a hedge fund sued; the same firm, Greenlight Capital, publicly laid out a case for a new class of Apple stock, and another investor fanned rumors of a stock split.

Instead, when all was said and done Wednesday, nothing of huge significance actually took place. But some things did happen.

  • All Apple board members were re-elected and two proposals put to shareholders did not pass: one on a requirement that executives hold a certain amount of company stock, and another that would require a board committee for human rights.
  • You’ll be shocked — shocked! — to find out CEO Tim Cook also doesn’t not like that Apple’s stock has been dropping over the past few months.
  • Cook did address the Greenlight Capital lawsuit, and reiterated his earlier comment that the suit was a “silly sideshow” even after losing that battle in court.
  • There was no announcement regarding any additional plan to return more of its $ 137 billion in cash to shareholders. But Apple is “in very, very active discussions” about that possibility, Cook said.

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