Daily Insight: Tuesday 30 April 2019: Boeing’s CEO Survives Vote but Unimpressive

News

Boeing’s Chairman and CEO was re-elected after a proposal to oust him as Chairman failed to win enough votes, as 34% of voters supported the proposal, which argued that an independent Chairman would be better suited to helping the board develop long-term strategy while allowing CEO Denis Muilenburg to focus on day-to-day operations.

Boeing’s Board of Directors recommended voting against the proposal.  Boeing’s last 13F filing indicated that the company has 69.96% institutional ownership, which means that some institutional investors voted in favor of the proposal, which wasn’t passed with the overwhelmingly margins that most proxy votes are when recommended by the board.  As a result, despite survival, a message has been sent by Wall St. to Mr. Muilenburg and Chicago through this vote.