Corporate America scored a strong victory last week in the first skirmish this year over shareholder access to the proxy statement, as activists fell far short in a vote to grant proxy access at corporate governance bellwether Hewlett-Packard.
Just 39.3 percent of total shares voted (and only 29.6 percent of total shares outstanding) were cast in favor of the proxy-access measure, which would have allowed shareholders to nominate some directors to the board under certain circumstances. The measure needed support of two-thirds of outstanding shares to pass.
