Apple keeps its board, rejects all proposed changes

The Apple shareholders’ meeting has gone down (sans Jobs) and not a lot has transpired. The same board members were re-elected, and the four proposed reforms were rejected. The Q&A session afterward was notable for some “socialist” name-calling and the entire room singing “Happy Birthday” to Steve.

The proposals were:

• Report Apple’s political contributions and expenditures
• Reform their health care policies to be in line with recommendations from the Institute of Medicine
• Give a report on sustainability and Apple’s corporate strategies’ environmental impacts
• Let shareholders give an advisory vote on executive compensation

The board rejected all of these, saying:

• No, it’s “unnecessary and unproductive”
• No, reform is the government’s job
• No, we already do that enough (*cough*)
• No, exec pay is the board’s business, that’s why you elected us

Minutes (of a sort) were made by a couple shareholders, and it doesn’t look like too much excitement happened. Softball questions, off-topics, and some “why didn’t you tell us about Steve” action, which was shut down. Like Peter said on Attack of the Show, Apple’s got this stuff locked down and they don’t need any pesky shareholders mucking it up. They also say Jobs is still involved in decision making and planning, so don’t go thinking he’s flown the coop altogether.