When Sports Direct announced the voting results at its General Meeting on 5 January this year, it looked at first as if its Chairman Keith Hellawell had been re-elected, with 81 percent of the vote. Helpfully, however, and in line with its new shareholder-friendly spirit, the company “for full transparency” also showed the votes of just the independent shareholders, excluding the majority shareholding of CEO and founder Mike Ashley. Under this calculation, Hellawell was not re-elected, as 54 percent of independent shareholders voted against him.
