Today, Johnson & Johnson held its 127th Annual Meeting of Shareholders in New Brunswick, NJ, returning to the State Theatre, where our Annual Meeting was held back in 1989. (Our Kilmer House blog has a nice piece about the history of the Johnson & Johnson Annual Meeting.)
Here is a recap of the official business from today’s meeting, including preliminary voting results:
1) Election of Directors: All 11 Director nominees were elected to serve one-year terms on the Board of Directors with the support of over 95 percent of the votes cast. Alex Gorsky (Chairman/CEO) received the support of 96.6 percent. A full list of our Board members, including their biographies, can be found in the Corporate Governance section of the investor.jnj.com website.
2) Advisory Vote to Approve Named Executive Officer Compensation: In this advisory vote, our shareholders approved the company’s executive compensation philosophy, policies and procedures and the compensation of the executive officers named in the 2015 Proxy Statement with the support of 95.1 percent of the votes cast.
3) Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm: Our shareholders approved the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to serve as our independent auditors for fiscal 2015 with the support of 98.8 percent of the votes cast.
4) Shareholder Proposal – Common Sense Policy regarding Overextended Directors: This proposal, made by Ms. Myra Young of Elk Grove, CA, beneficial owner of 100 shares of our stock, received the support of 3.7 percent of the votes cast.
5) Shareholder Proposal – Alignment between Corporate Values and Political Contributions: This proposal, made by NorthStar Asset Management, Inc. Funded Pension Plan of Boston, MA, beneficial owner of 206 shares of our stock, received the support of 5.0 percent of the votes cast.
6) Shareholder Proposal – Independent Board Chairman: This proposal, made by Mr. Kenneth Steiner of Great Neck, NY, beneficial owner of 300 shares of our stock, received the support of 36.5 percent of the votes cast.
The details of all of these proposals can be found in our 2015 Proxy Statement.
The final voting results will be disclosed in an upcoming SEC filing.
Also announced at today’s meeting was the Board’s decision to increase the rate of the quarterly dividend to shareholders, from $0.70 per share to $0.75 per share, payable on June 9, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 26, 2015. This marks the 53rd consecutive year of dividend increases by Johnson & Johnson.
A replay of the audio webcast of today’s Annual Meeting will be available on the Webcasts & Presentations section of the investor.jnj.com website.
For more information about corporate governance at Johnson & Johnson, we encourage you to visit the Corporate Governance section of the investor.jnj.com website. Also, be sure to explore our 2014 Digital Annual Report.
For more information about corporate governance at Johnson & Johnson, we encourage you to visit the Corporate Governance section of the investor.jnj.com website. Also, be sure to explore our 2014 Digital Annual Report.