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TagsBY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Shareholders for Apple appear to believe that the company will make the right choice in a successor for ailing CEO Steve Jobs when the time comes.
They have rejected demands that the company disclose a succession plan for Jobs, and Apple has remained silent on how many had backed that proposal.
The reluctance to reveal details of the vote on a proposal by the Central Laborers' Pension Fund raised speculation that a sizable number of shareholders may have supported it.
An Associated Press report in the Asbury Park Press says the Central Laborers' Pension Fund, which owns 11,484 shares of Apple stock, called for a succession plan to ensure "a smooth transition" in case Jobs leaves as CEO.
The proposal didn't ask Apple to name whom it planned to appoint, but it wanted the company to come up with a three-year plan for changing leadership and an emergency plan. The plan would be reviewed annually by Apple, and a report on it would be shared with stockholders.
The fate of Apple, among the world's most powerful technology companies, is tied to how the company handles the eventual departure of its co-founder and leader. Jobs in January took a third medical leave for unknown reasons, with many not expecting him to return to lead the company he founded in 1976.
But, in a rare show of activism for Apple's investors, shareholders approved a proposal giving them a bigger say in appointing directors — against the company's recommendation they reject the proposal. Reuters reports about 74 percent of votes cast favored a proposal that unopposed candidates for the company's board receive a majority of votes to win election, according to the fund.
Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, Jobs' heir apparent, presented a predictably rosy picture of Apple’s future, noting opportunities in smartphone, tablet and PC markets and the untapped potential among business customers. Cook, an operations expert, is running the company for the third time in seven years.
Shareholders voted down the proposal to outline a plan for who will succeed Jobs. And not one shareholder asked about Jobs or his health.
Apple has been reluctant to talk publicly about Jobs' battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and a liver transplant. But the uncertainty shrouding his latest leave of absence has unsettled investors and rankled corporate governance experts, who say the company's fortunes are inextricably linked to Jobs.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Cook has never run the company without Jobs' input. And by some accounts, Apple lost some of its creative tension while Jobs was gone during two previous medical leaves.
