shareholders

Once a year the people who own stock in Apple get a chance to make their voice heard regarding the direction of the company.

This year, that's Thursday. Though the issues up for vote on the ballot this year are nothing out of the ordinary--reelecting the same slate of board members, changes to employee stock plans, salary, and other compensation for the Apple's top executives--there's always the wild card of shareholder proposals.

Investors overall should have little to complain about when it comes to the company's finances. Apple posted a profit of $3.37 billion, or $… Read more

On2 Technologies has filed an update with the SEC on its proposed merger with Google, hoping to put to rest some key questions.

On2, which makes video compression software, announced Monday that the update includes certain key highlights about the merger and some frequently asked questions.

On2 agreed on August 5 to be acquired by Google for $106.5 million, a deal already approved by its board of directors. The terms call for each share of On2 to be exchanged for 60 cents worth of Google common stock.

With its board anxious for investors to approve the deal, On2 outlined some of the risks … Read more

Windows 7 isn't just getting good reviews, it's also selling well, CEO Steve Ballmer told shareholders Thursday.

Delivering opening remarks at Microsoft's shareholder meeting, Ballmer said that Windows 7 was off to a "fantastic start."

"We've already sold twice as many units as any OS in a comparable time frame," Ballmer said. "Windows 7 is simply the best PC operating system that we or anyone else has ever built."

By last week, Windows 7 accounted for 4 percent of Web-accessing devices, according to Net Applications; it took Vista more than … Read more

Microsoft's board on Friday voted to give shareholders more say in how the software maker pays its executives.

The board of directors approved a plan that calls for a vote on the company's executive compensation every three years. However, under the board's plan, the vote will be advisory in nature.

The first of the advisory measures is set to be a part of this year's shareholder meeting, which takes place November 19.

"Given the interest in executive pay, we think it makes sense to encourage more dialogue with our shareholders on our compensation approach," … Read more

Yahoo's first annual shareholder meeting with Carol Bartz as CEO was largely uneventful, as she promised to turn Yahoo around by focusing on content and organization.

The actual business of the meeting was brief: all 12 nominees up for reelection to the board of directors were approved, three company-sponsored proposals were approved, and a shareholder "say on pay" proposal was rejected. Bartz spent most of the meeting talking about the work she has been doing to get Yahoo back on track, emphasizing that Yahoo has a strategy; it just needs to "execute"--business-speak for "… Read more

Update at 8:52 a.m. PDT, with additional information from the research note and charts.

A Wall Street analyst on Monday lowered earnings estimates for Apple's fiscal second quarter and year, marking a second whack from a financial soothsayer in the past few days.

Doug Reid, an analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners, lowered Apple's fiscal second-quarter earnings estimates from $1.10 a share to $1.05 a share. Its fiscal second quarter ends in late March. For the fiscal year, Reid cut estimates from $5.31 a share to $5.10 a share, according to his research … Read more

CUPERTINO, Calif.--Apple's first annual shareholder meeting in more than 10 years without founder and CEO Steve Jobs was largely uneventful, as COO Tim Cook and board members stepped in to handle questions regarding Apple's disclosure of Jobs' health.

Five shareholder proposals were considered, and only the one approving the re-election of Apple's eight existing board members was approved in preliminary voting. As in past years, the informal question-and-answer section was by far more interesting, although without Jobs' usual acerbic replies to institutional shareholders on soapboxes, a little duller.

For the record, Apple shareholders rejected proposals that … Read more

Apple has confirmed that CEO Steve Jobs will miss Wednesday's annual shareholder meeting for the first time since he returned in 1997 to the company he co-founded, Bloomberg has reported.

Jobs is currently on a medical leave of absence until the end of June to deal with unspecified health issues that have caused him to lose a significant amount of weight over the last year, so his absence is not a total surprise.

Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is running the show in Jobs' absence and will likely serve as master of ceremonies for the meeting Wednesday morning at … Read more

Intel announced Wednesday it's adopting a shareholder request to allow its investors to weigh in on its compensation policies and practices concerning executive pay.

Under the Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation, also known as "say on pay," Intel shareholders will vote at the company's shareholders meeting in May on the question of whether they approve Intel's compensation committee's compensation philosophy, policies, and procedures.

Intel shareholder Walden Asset Management had served as the lead investor to craft the shareholder proposal. But since Intel has adopted the "say on pay" advisory vote for its … Read more