Summary
This Form 8-K reports on the results of Microsoft Corporation's 2013 Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on November 19, 2013. Key outcomes include the re-election of all nine director nominees and the approval of the material terms of the Executive Officer Incentive Plan. Additionally, shareholders provided advisory approval for the compensation of named executive officers and ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2014. The voting outcomes demonstrate strong shareholder support for the board of directors and the company's financial oversight. The overwhelming majority of votes 'For' across all proposals indicate shareholder confidence in Microsoft's current leadership and financial practices.
Key Highlights
- 1All nine director nominees, including Steven A. Ballmer and William H. Gates III, were re-elected with substantial 'For' votes.
- 2Shareholders approved, by a significant margin (97.87%), the material terms of the performance goals under the Executive Officer Incentive Plan.
- 3The compensation of Microsoft's named executive officers received advisory approval from shareholders with 95.90% voting 'For'.
- 4Deloitte & Touche LLP was ratified as Microsoft's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2014 with 98.74% of votes in favor.
- 5A total of 7,016,304,432 shares were voted out of 8,360,743,755 entitled to vote, representing a strong participation rate.
- 6Broker non-votes were significant in the director elections, indicating a portion of shares were not voted by their beneficial owners on those proposals.