Shareholder rebellion

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}

Shareholder rebellion occurs when the owners of a corporation work to throw out management or oppose their decisions. Shareholder rebellion may occur at an annual general meeting or through a proxy battle. Shareholders may also threaten to collapse a firm's stock price through concentrated selling.{{citation|title=Liquidity versus Control: The Institutional Investor as Corporate Monitor|author=John C. Coffee, Jr.|journal=Columbia Law Review|volume=91|number=6|date=October 1991|pages=1277–1368|doi=10.2307/1123064|jstor=1123064|url=https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/28|url-access=subscription}} In 1998, the Rockefeller family led a shareholder revolt against Exxon over its climate change policy.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/may/19/exxonmobil.oil | location=London | work=The Guardian| title=Exxon facing shareholder revolt over approach to climate change | date=19 May 2008 | first=Andrew | last=Clark}} In 2005, Michael Eisner retired after Walt Disney's nephew, Roy Disney, led a shareholder revolt, claiming Eisner was a micromanager who had caused a creative brain drain.{{cite news| url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011312298_iger14.html | work=The Seattle Times | title=Brain-eating zombies invade Disney in Iger plan to win boy fans | first1=Seth | last1=Lubove | first2=Andy | last2=Fixmer | date=13 March 2010}} In 2010, BP{{Cite web|url=http://priceofoil.org/2010/02/08/now-bp-faces-shareholder-revolt-over-tar-sands/|title = Now BP Faces Shareholder Revolt over Tar Sands|date = 8 February 2010}} and Shell faced a shareholder revolt over their Canadian tar sands policy.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jan/18/shell-shareholders-fury-tar-sands | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Shell faces shareholder revolt over Canadian tar sands project | date=18 January 2010 | first=Terry | last=MacAlister}}

Recently, shareholder rebellions have occurred over the issue of executive compensation at Cable and Wireless{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/11/cable-and-wireless-pay-shareholder-protest | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=Cable & Wireless facing shareholder revolt over executive pay | date=11 March 2010 | first=Richard | last=Wachman}} and Shell;{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/shell-shareholder-rebelli_n_463817.html | work=HuffPost | title=Shell Shareholder 'Rebellion' Leads To New Limits on Executive Pay, Bonuses | date=16 February 2010}} Shell in response unveiled a plan to curb executive compensation and bonuses.{{cite web |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/Shell-unveils-plans-to-curb-apf-853987459.html?x=0 |title=Shell unveils plans to curb executive pay, bonuses - Yahoo! Finance |website=finance.yahoo.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105220046/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Shell-unveils-plans-to-curb-apf-853987459.html?x=0 |archive-date=2011-11-05}}

According to some analysts, institutional shareholders have been lax about holding management accountable because they were concentrating on picking correct stocks rather than protecting their interests in the stocks they owned.{{cite news| url=http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/10/27/time-for-a-shareholder-revolt/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029130036/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/10/27/time-for-a-shareholder-revolt/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=29 October 2009 | work=Reuters | title=Time for a shareholder revolt | date=27 October 2009}}

Shareholder revolts are becoming more common, with a record number of advisory “Say on Pay” votes in the US failing to win majority support in 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.proxyinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Proxy-Monthly-July-2018-1.pdf|title=Season's Meetings: Record Failed Say-on-Pay votes this proxy season|date=July 2018|work=Proxy Monthly|access-date=4 December 2019}}