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Clickbait title. From the WSJ article covering the same story: The announcement has no practical effect on Mr. Zuckerberg and his position as both CEO and chai

Clickbait title. From the WSJ article covering the same story: The announcement has no practical effect on Mr. Zuckerberg and his position as both CEO and chairman because he has a lock on the bulk of Facebook’s supervoting shares, each of which gives him 10 times the votes of average shareholders. According to Facebook’s latest proxy, his share of the voting power among Facebook investors was 59.9%. https://www.wsj.com/articles/funds-back-proposal-to-remove-zuckerberg-as-facebook-chairman-1539789440 https://www.wsj.com/articles/funds-back-proposal-to-remove-z...

bkor 8y ago
The article mentions the same though: It means he has more than half of the voting power at Facebook and therefore the ability to swat away investor proposals. This makes the chances of Trillium's proposal becoming reality slim.
- chki 8y ago
  But how does that make the chance of the proposal becoming reality slim? It makes it impossible for Zuckerberg to be removed without his consent, right?
  - johntb86 8y ago
    Not exactly impossible - see Deciem at https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-15/insider-trading-isn-t-so-simple https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-15/insider-t... , though that requires very unusual circumstances.
  - MR4D 8y ago
    You’d be surprised at how Wall Street works sometimes. Not sure about this particular case, but what can happen is that the fund managers talk, and they stop buying (or even start selling) shares of the company. These funds may look small to you, but if they can drive a 5 or 10% drop, things spread like wildfire. Further, it’s likely that one of these fund managers have a strong relationship with another fund manager, and if the proposal is reasonable, then others may jump on the bandwagon. Finally, consider how the situation changes if someone at BlackRock decides this would be helpful. All of a sudden, the conversation changes immensely due to the large number of shares they control. Institutional shareholders own almost 3/4 of all shares. Ownership is not the same as control, but it’s a good proxy at this level [0]. [0] - https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/fb/institutional-holdings https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/fb/institutional-holdings
dang 8y ago
Ok, we changed the URL to that from https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-investors-sign-plan-fire-mark-zuckerberg-as-chairman-2018-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-investors-sign-plan....
Alex3917 8y ago
Until the SEC strips his supervoting rights as part of the settlement for some scandal.
- nashashmi 8y ago
  There is an extra step: When the SEC sues him, .. and trades in the dirt they have on him for his supervoting rights in a settlement, then ...
- paxys 8y ago
  Are there any financial irregularities at Facebook that we don't know of? If not, the SEC can't do shit.
- olliej 8y ago
  He would have to be involved in illegal activity involving Facebook stock, and even then I believe all they could do is prevent him from being on the board - I’m not sure that they can force him to sell off his controlling position, but maybe I’m wrong?

bkor 8y ago

The article mentions the same though: It means he has more than half of the voting power at Facebook and therefore the ability to swat away investor proposals. This makes the chances of Trillium's proposal becoming reality slim.

chki 8y ago
But how does that make the chance of the proposal becoming reality slim? It makes it impossible for Zuckerberg to be removed without his consent, right?
- johntb86 8y ago
  Not exactly impossible - see Deciem at https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-15/insider-trading-isn-t-so-simple https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-15/insider-t... , though that requires very unusual circumstances.
- MR4D 8y ago
  You’d be surprised at how Wall Street works sometimes. Not sure about this particular case, but what can happen is that the fund managers talk, and they stop buying (or even start selling) shares of the company. These funds may look small to you, but if they can drive a 5 or 10% drop, things spread like wildfire. Further, it’s likely that one of these fund managers have a strong relationship with another fund manager, and if the proposal is reasonable, then others may jump on the bandwagon. Finally, consider how the situation changes if someone at BlackRock decides this would be helpful. All of a sudden, the conversation changes immensely due to the large number of shares they control. Institutional shareholders own almost 3/4 of all shares. Ownership is not the same as control, but it’s a good proxy at this level [0]. [0] - https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/fb/institutional-holdings https://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/fb/institutional-holdings

dang 8y ago

Ok, we changed the URL to that from https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-investors-sign-plan-fire-mark-zuckerberg-as-chairman-2018-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-investors-sign-plan....

Alex3917 8y ago

Until the SEC strips his supervoting rights as part of the settlement for some scandal.

nashashmi 8y ago
There is an extra step: When the SEC sues him, .. and trades in the dirt they have on him for his supervoting rights in a settlement, then ...
paxys 8y ago
Are there any financial irregularities at Facebook that we don't know of? If not, the SEC can't do shit.
olliej 8y ago
He would have to be involved in illegal activity involving Facebook stock, and even then I believe all they could do is prevent him from being on the board - I’m not sure that they can force him to sell off his controlling position, but maybe I’m wrong?