Shareholder Meetings Pushed Online to Avoid Covid-19
Investor activists have traditionally opposed corporate efforts to drop in-person meetings, but the pandemic has changed all that.
Walmart employees during an annual shareholders meeting event on June 1, 2018 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Photographer: Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images North AmericaShareholder meetings are going virtual as companies adapt their mandatory annual gatherings to the coronavirus.
Corporate proxy season is already underway, with companies filing annual statements ahead of thousands of planned general meetings stretching from April to July. Most firms are required by law to hold gatherings to approve corporate policies. In recent years, meetings at companies like Exxon Mobil Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Facebook Inc. have become popular for activists urging action on climate change and social responsibility.