CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple investors voted down a proposal Wednesday that would force the tech giant to reveal its succession plan.
As a result, the company is under no obligation to disclose its plans about how the company would be run if CEO Steve Jobs had to step down.
APPLE FIGHTS SUCCESSION PROPOSAL
Investors have expressed concern regarding the future of Apple leadership after, Jobs, who will turn 56 Thursday, announced a medical leave from the company last month.
Jobs did not attend Wednesday’s meeting.
Shares of Apple were up 1.4 percent to $343.59 in late-afternoon trading Wednesday, following the meeting.
No shareholders directly addressed the issue of Jobs’ health at the meeting, beyond wishing him well. But the question of what is in store for the company should he leave his post hung over the event, in part because of the shareholder-sponsored resolution that sought greater clarity into the company’s planning for CEO succession.
“We’re eager to see Mr. Jobs return to running Apple on a day-to-day basis,” said Jennifer O’Dell, spokeswoman for the Laborer’s International Union of North America, who presented the proposal at the meeting. “We also want to see the company that he invented and nurtured to be on solid footing in the event he decides to step down, whether it’s planned in advance or a sudden decision.”
She added that the proposal does not ask the company to name Jobs’ planned successor or other details, but asks the company to insert written language in its materials that demonstrates its effort to plan for a transition.
Apple opposed the measure, saying it has thorough plans for Jobs’ succession. No details were given, but investors widely expect chief operating officer Tim Cook, who has run Apple in Jobs’ previous medical-related absences, to take over the CEO reins, with other current top Apple executives continuing to run their respective units.
The company also announced an event for March 2 in San Francisco, where it is expected to unveil a new version of its popular iPad tablet device. The first iPad went on sale last April, and sold more than 14 million units in its first nine months — giving Apple a crucial lead in the tablet market.
While few investors seem concerned about Apple’s short-term business, some are worried about the company’s longer-term outlook should it lose the CEO who has run the company for the last 14 years and has led revolutionary changes in the electronics, entertainment and telecommunications industries — giving Apple a key position in all three.
The status of Jobs’ health remains unclear. He has remained involved in business decisions, for example, being quoted in a press release last week touting the company’s controversial new service to sell subscription content for apps through its App Store. He also was one of several Silicon Valley leaders to meet with President Barack Obama during a local visit last week.
However, the National Enquirer ran photos last week of Jobs outside a cancer treatment center at Stanford University, not far from his Silicon Valley home. The pictures in the supermarket tabloid showed an emaciated Jobs walking into the center, and set off renewed speculation that the pancreatic cancer he first battled in 2004 had returned. Jobs had a liver transplant in 2009 stemming in part from complications from the disease.
To read more, MarketWatch.com.