A few times a year I represent our union pension fund’s shareholder proposals at public companies. Basically, you attend the annual shareholder meeting at a shmancy hotel and explain why shareholders should vote for your proposal. There is a stable of reporters, a slew of investment types, and lots of refreshments. Our proposals generally have to do with good corporate governance and controlling crazy executive compensation.
I was at Textron‘s annual meeting yesterday to present a proposal to keep the company from paying executives’ income and special taxes. These meetings usually have a grand spread of food. In the most upscale hotel in the state, next to all the elegant pastries, smartly shaped butter figurines, and sparkling waters was a silver platter of matzah. I guess it was a shoutout to all the Jewish shareholders but boy was it an odd juxtaposition. Any ideas about what motivates such a move or who eats matzah during a pesach meeting?
Here is a nice article describing what I was doing there. (you can even see a picture of zt looking businessy).