Shareholder Activists Step Up Their Fight

I have written in the past about how corporate executives are starting to wage a war on the owners of the companies they work for - that is, a war on shareholders. And this new Businessweek story shows why: because shareholders are starting to demand real reforms of the worst corporate abuses.

The story tells it like it is:

"Curbs on CEO pay. Checks on board cronyism. Reining in conflicts of interest. Labor and public pension fund activists have waged hundreds of proxy battles in recent years but rarely with much effect on target companies. Now shareholder activists are attacking the process by which directors themselves are elected...Shareholder resolutions at some 140 companies, from Hewlett-Packard Inc. to Wells Fargo & Co., would require directors to garner a majority of votes cast to join the board."

These resolutions would be a major step forward - and its not surprising that the executives who are living large off the current system oppose the efforts. Stay tuned to see what happens.

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