THOUSAND OAKS (dpa-AFX) - Amgen (AMGN) announced voting results from the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Westlake Village, Calif. Approximately 87 percent of outstanding shares were represented at the meeting.
The company said Kevin Sharer retired from his post as Chief Executive officer and the Board of Directors appointed Robert Bradway as the company's fourth CEO. Sharer will remain as Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors until December 31, 2012, at which time he will retire from the Board and from the Company. It is the intention of the Board of Directors to elect Bradway Chairman of the Board when Sharer retires from that position at the end of 2012.
The director nominees David Baltimore, Robert Bradway, Frank Biondi, Jr., Vance Coffman, Francois de Carbonnel, Rebecca Henderson, Frank Herringer, Gilbert S. Omenn, Judith Pelham, Paul Reason, USN (Retired), Leonard Schaeffer, Kevin Sharer and Ronald Sugar were each reelected to Amgen's Board of Directors.
Tyler Jacks, a new nominee for director was also elected. Each director received at least 92 percent of the votes cast 'For.' With the reelection of the directors, and the addition of Jacks, Amgen currently has 14 directors.
With approximately 99 percent of the votes cast 'For,' stockholders ratified Ernst & Young as Amgen's independent registered public accountants for the year ending Dec. 31, 2012.
The company said its stockholders approved on an advisory basis, the named executive officer compensation, commonly known as 'Say-on-Pay.' The non-binding proposal gives stockholders the opportunity to endorse or not endorse Amgen's executive pay programs and policies.
In 2011, Amgen's compensation programs were modified to reflect the core concerns of stockholders and to better align executive pay with Amgen's performance. Today, Say-on-Pay received approximately 87 percent of the votes cast 'For' the proposal.
The company's stockholders approved a management proposal recommending that the Company's Restated Certificate of Incorporation be amended to authorize stockholder action by written consent. Approximately 70 percent of outstanding shares were cast 'For' the proposal.
The company noted that its stockholders rejected proposals recommending an independent Chairman of the Board, transparency in animal use, disclosure of lobbying policies and practices and that the CEO serve on a maximum of one other Board, with the proposals receiving 42 percent, 5 percent, 19 percent and 4 percent of the votes cast 'For' the proposals, respectively.
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© 2012 AFX News
