Ford Family Defeats One Share, One Vote at Annual Meeting

Posted on 13 May 2013 by Ken Zino
AutoInformed.com

Not surprisingly, Ford Motor management –vetted by the family – was against the proposal.

Just 69 people attended the Ford Motor Company 58th annual meeting last Friday in Wilmington, Delaware, but 3,162,247,188 shares of common stock and 70,852,076 shares of family owned Class B stock were represented. Once again, the Ford family with its 16 votes for every share of class B beat back a dissident shareholder proposal that would recapitalize the company at one vote per share. All told, a total of 5,734,531,807 votes were vote at the meeting.

The One Vote per Share measure, part of a larger trend with common shareholders demanding more accountability as well as more moderation in executive compensation and other democratic ideas, grew in popularity by garnering 4,508,110,660 of the votes cast for 33.4% of the total. This appears to be the largest approval rate ever for an independent proposal at Ford Motor Company.

Once again, the proposal was put forth by the Ray T. and Veronica G. Chevedden Family Trust of Los Angeles, California as it has for several years now. The trust and other shareholders want to end the Ford family control of the automaker via their special voting rights of Class B stock. “It is time that the 57-year practice (1956-2013) of disenfranchising Ford public shareholders be changed for the common benefit of all shareholders,” the proposal said.

Critics, including apparently those holding more than 50% of the common shares voted, contend that the dual class voting stock reduces accountability by allowing corporate control to be retained by insiders disproportionately to the actual amount of their money at risk. The Council of Institutional Investors is calling for stock exchanges to adjust a complaint it has had for decades, shares with unequal voting rights. Not surprisingly, Ford Motor management –vetted by the family – was against the proposal.

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About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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