A shareholder mob failed to lynch HP’s chairman Ray Lane and several other directors who narrowly kept their seats on the board. However shareholders did make it clear that they were jolly cross over the botched $11 billion acquisition of British software firm Autonomy.
Lane, a managing partner at high-powered Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, fellow venture capitalist Marc Andressen and other board members have come under fire from shareholders for one of the company's costliest acquisition mistakes in years. Director and activist Ralph Whitworth told shareholders at the company's annual meeting on Wednesday to expect "some evolution" in the company's board, but did not explain what he meant. Lane won just 58.88 percent of shareholder votes. That was well below last year's 96-percent tally.
ISS and Glass Lewis had recommended voting against a roster of other directors including John Hammergren and Kennedy Thompson. Glass Lewis recommended shareholders vote to remove Andreessen, Rajiv Gupta, Hammergren and Thompson.
Hammergren got 53.91 per cent of shareholders' votes versus 81 percent last year, while Thompson had 55.15 per cent, down from 81.2 percent previously. Andreessen garnered 69.77 per cent, off from 82 per cent last year.
Mob sent a warning
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Nick Farrell
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