Shareholders had their say on pay at two U.S. corporations last week—and for the first time ever in this country, the answer was “no.” Motorola held its annual meeting on May 3, where only 45 percent of shareholders cast votes in favor of its executive compensation plan; 44 percent voted against it, and 10 percent abstained. Occidental Petroleum then held its meeting last Friday. The company won’t disclosed precise results until later this week, but confirmed in a press release that its shareholders also gave management’s compensation plans the thumbs-down.
For Occidental in particular, this must sting. The company volunteered last year to start offering say-on-pay votes in 2010, and then took one in the kisser its first year out. Of course, CEO Ray Irani did take home boatloads of pay in 2009 ($31.4 million, according to Occidental’s proxy statement), while revenues, net income and earnings per share all tumbled from the banner year of 2008. Then again, share price did rise from $61 to $80 through 2009 as well.
