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filing on Friday showed 44% of votes cast supported a call for a
review of the company's impact on equity, diversity and other
areas proposed by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli at
Amazon's annual meeting on May 26, a high total for such a
measure.
DiNapoli said the measure would have received a majority but for
the 14% stake held by CEO Jeff Bezos, a sign of investor
dissatisfaction at the leading online retailer.
"Shareholders sent a loud message to Amazon that they want the
company to do more to address racial diversity, equity and
inclusion. It's time for Amazon to listen to its investors,"
DiNapoli said in an emailed-statement.
Amazon had previously said the measure did not win a majority
but it did not give the voting breakdown.
An Amazon representative said the company has "initiated
numerous programs to assess and address racial justice
considerations across key aspects of our operations that we
believe fully address the objectives of this proposal.”
The call for the racial equity audit received the highest level
of support among 11 shareholder proposals at Wednesday's
meeting.
Another, calling for Amazon to consider adding an hourly worker
to its board of directors received support from 17% of votes
cast, the filing showed.
Proposals with such low levels of support are rarely adopted,
although the figure was about twice what similar calls for
workers-on-boards have received at other companies in recent
years.
The measure, which received a rare endorsement from
Institutional Shareholder Services, was closely watched at the
annual meeting after a union organizing effort at the company
failed in April.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by David Gregorio)
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