It’s Time to Increase Shareholder Voices Inside the Boardroom

Authors

J Robert Brown Jr, University of Denver College of LawFollow

Publication Date

1-20-2015

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Sturm College of Law

Keywords

Shareholders, Corporate governance, Business management, Corporations

Abstract

Common mythology holds that shareholders of public corporations choose who sits on the board of directors. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Under the laws of most states, directors are automatically elected if they run unopposed. Most do. In the vast majority of public corporations, directors have no competition, making the end result a foregone conclusion. Typically, directors who do not receive majority support submit a perfunctory letter of resignation that is rarely accepted. These “zombie directors” live on despite their metaphorical deaths at the hands of shareholders.

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Publication Statement

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Recommended Citation

J. Robert Brown Jr., It’s time to increase shareholder voices inside the boardroom, The Conversation (Jan. 20, 2015), https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-increase-shareholder-voices-inside-the-boardroom-36272.