Apple changes make it easier for shareholders to nominate board members

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Apple hQ
Apple's building a new office in San Jose.
Photo: Apple

Apple is changing the way members of its board of directors are nominated, according to a new SEC filing that reveals Apple plans to offer ‘proxy access’ that will give shareholders greater power to oust directors and dictate strategy.

Apple’s board of directors currently consists of 8 members, but the new bylaws adopted by the company on Monday will allow a shareholder, or group of up to 20 shareholders to include board nominees in the company’s annual proxy statement as long as they’ve own at least 3% of AAPL for the past three years.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the bylaws permit shareholders to nominate 20 percent of Apple’s board of directors, which means they would be allowed to nominate one director currently.

Nearly 10% of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index are committed to proxy access, including McDonald’s, Goldman Sachs, and Coca-Cola. The move will give shareholders more influence over the company, which is something Apple avoided during Steve Jobs’ tenure as CEO. With only 20% influence though, the shareholder-nominated director won’t wield as much power, considering they will need to garner votes from Apple’s current 8 directors, all of which have a close relationship with Tim Cook.

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