But it Doesn’t Mean Anything

Because of Facebook’s multiple classes of shares, most of its shareholders have effectively have no say at all regarding how the business is run.

This means that when over ⅔ of outsider investors voted to fire Mark Zuckerberg, it meant nothing:

The Facebook shareholder revolt just got bloody.

Facebook revealed in a filing on Monday how investors voted on a raft of proposals at its annual shareholder meeting last week — and the results underline the unrest among outside investors.

According to an analysis of the results by Open Mic — an organization that works with activist shareholders to overhaul corporate governance at America’s biggest companies — independent shareholders overwhelmingly backed two proposals to weaken Mark Zuckerberg’s power.

Some 68% of ordinary investors, those who are not part of management or the board, want to oust Zuckerberg as chairman and bring in an independent figure to chair Facebook’s board. This was a significant increase on the 51% who voted in favor of an almost identical proposal last year.

………

Furthermore, 83.2% of outside shareholders also backed a proposal to scrap Facebook’s dual-class share structure. Currently, class A shareholders have one vote for each share, while class B shareholders get 10 votes a share. Management and directors control class B shares.

Furthermore, 83.2% of outside shareholders also backed a proposal to scrap Facebook’s dual-class share structure. Currently, class A shareholders have one vote for each share, while class B shareholders get 10 votes a share. Management and directors control class B shares.

I think that, absent some changes in securities law, the only way that Zuckerberg leaves Facebook is if some enterprising prosecutor throws him in jail.

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