FedEx founder Fred Smith was upbeat on economic prospects this week as company shareholdersrejected union moves to split his roles as CEO and chairman.
“We think we have hit bottom and traffic is climbing up from a multi-year low,” US mediacited him as telling shareholders at the annual meeting on September 28. Smith pointed to improvingfigures on US manufacturing and industrial production as well as better conditions in the housingand automotive sectors. The recovery is “slow but certain”, he commented.
Separately, shareholders rejected the proposal backed by the Teamsters union that the companychairman should be an independent director who had not previously served as an executive officer ofFedEx. This would have ended Smith’s dual position as CEO and chairman.
They also rejected proposals requesting that shareowners of 10% of FedEx’s outstanding stockbe given the power to call special shareowner meetings, that shareowners be given the opportunityat each annual meeting to vote on a non-binding resolution to ratify the compensation of FedEx’snamed executive officers and that principles for health care reform should be adopted.
David P. Steiner, the chief executive officer and a director of Waste Management, Inc., theleading provider of comprehensive waste management and environmental services in North America, waselected to the corporation’s Board of Directors for a one-year term.
Shareowners also re-elected the other eleven director nominees, each for a one-year term:Frederick W. Smith, James L. Barksdale, John A. Edwardson, Judith L. Estrin, J.R. Hyde, III,Shirley A. Jackson, Steven R. Loranger, Gary W. Loveman, Susan C. Schwab, Joshua I. Smith and PaulS. Walsh.
