PROXY COUNTDOWN
In the style of ESPN, The Proxy Countdown is an American pre-game show broadcast by Free Float as part of the company's coverage of the the executives and directors who control the corporate world. The show spotlights important CEO transitions, features contentious boardroom battles, and highlights shareholder votes at the alternative democracy of annual corporate shareholder meetings. Because unlike athletes, investors can get in the game.
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Declassify Lululemon, plus anti-ESG losses and big dumb payouts
<p ></p><p >Lead independent directors continue to be CEOs-in-training</p><p >Lachlan Murdoch give himself more money but promises he had nothing to do with it</p><p >Investors hate ONE company’s pay</p><p >Exxon hearts Texas and loathes ESG</p><p >And on the Big Vote, Matt puts on some LuluLemon</p><p ><br><br></p><p ></p><p ></p><p >Trade Wire</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p > 130 Filings since May 28th</p><p ></p><p >The headlines</p><p >Lead Independent Directors are King</p><p >TYSON FOODS: lead independent director Jeffrey K. Schomburger wil...
Board scenario models at Walmart, plus Amgen won’t move your piano
<p ></p><p >This is Proxy Countdown. Welcome to the big show for the week of May 25, 2026 alongside my tag team partner Matt Moscardi. I'm Damion Rallis. On today’s countdown:</p><p ></p><p >BP Ousts a Bully</p><p >No foosball tables for the new CFO at Amgen</p><p >An activist investor calls a board “lazy”</p><p >Welltower investors decide they hate the NEOs’ $1.5B in equity awards</p><p >And on the Big Vote, Matt talks Walmart</p><p ><br><br></p><p ></p><p ></p><p >Trade Wire</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p > 88 Filings s...
Business Roundtable Boards, plus Victoria’s Secret and vote roundups
<p ></p><p >Proof that Berkshire Hathaway has always been fake frugal</p><p >Companies following their own rules</p><p >Victoria’s Secret rejects a Brett Blundy</p><p >A wrap-up of 150 meeting results over the past 2 weeks</p><p >And on the Big Vote, Matt accepts the BlackRock, JP Morgan, Northrop Grumman, Home Depot challenge</p><p ><br><br></p><p ></p><p ></p><p >Trade Wire</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p > Filings since May 1st</p><p ></p><p >The headlines</p><p >BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY</p><p >Charles C. Chang will succeed Marc D. Hamburg as Ber...
Aflac’s Atlanta crew, plus vote avoidance at AIG and Ball Corp’s vote prediction
<p ><br></p><p ></p><p ></p><p >Trade Wire</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p > Filings since April 24</p><p ></p><p >The headlines</p><p >AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC. (AIG) appointed Eric Andersen CEO/director, effective June 1, 2026, CEO Peter Zaffino becoming Executive Chair </p><p >Crane Co (CR): COO Alejandro (Alex) Alcala promoted to CEO/director, CEO/Chair Max Mitchell becomes Executive Chair</p><p >SOUTHERN COPPER CORP: former CEO passed away; appointed director Leonardo Contreras Lerdo de Tejada as CEO, will remain on board</p><p >We reported as Interim last week, is now permanent</p><p > </p><p...
Blame at Wells Fargo’s AGM, plus Ingles governance joke, Cook out, Texas reject
<p >This is Proxy Countdown. Welcome to the big show for the week of April 20, 2026 alongside my tag team partner Matt Moscardi. I'm Damion Rallis. On today’s countdown:</p><p ></p><p >Tim Cook changes chairs at Apple</p><p >While Corrie Barry loses hers at Best Buy</p><p >Activist investors raise the Sackler Sucks flag at Ingles Markets</p><p >Shareholders love mergers but hate merger pay</p><p >And on the Big Vote, Matt looks at Charles Scharf and his boy band at Wells Fargo</p><p ><br><br></p><p ></p><p ></p><p >Trade Wi...
Johnson & Johnson’s big swing. Plus, DOW’s new CEO, Snap layoffs, Meta man board
<p ></p><p >A 100% increase in black female CEOs at Fortune 500 companies</p><p >The wild wild west of CFO transitions</p><p >Snap’s AI-branded mismanagement umbrella</p><p >Shareholder Proposals are becoming old-fashioned again</p><p >And on The Big Vote, Matt finally digs into wayward bandaids</p><p ><br><br></p><p ></p><p >Trade Wire</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p >30 Filings since April 8</p><p ></p><p >The headlines</p><p >DOW INC. appointed Karen Carter as CEO, to succeed Jim Fitterling, who will remain as Executive Chair</p><p >Karen is only the 2nd bl...
Adobe’s succession vote, plus Paramount’s whistleblower, BP’s new CEO, AI’s proxy tilt
<p ></p><p >Trade Wire - BUY/SELL</p><p >TOP STORIES</p><p >proxy countdown_trade wire_2025 - Google Sheets: 44 Filings since March 31</p><p ></p><p >THE HEADLINES</p><p >Jeff Shell, president and board director at Paramount Skydance, is stepping down after allegations of SEC violations</p><p >Shell came under scrutiny after gambler and whistleblower R.J. Cipriani filed a $150M lawsuit alleging Shell shared confidential information in violation of SEC rules.</p><p >Shell previously left his role as NBCUniversal CEO in 2023 after he admitted to having an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee.</p><p >The...
Vote with data top list, plus equity awards, ballooning pay, and activists like dudes
<p ></p><p >Trade Wire - BUY/SELL</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p >proxy countdown_trade wire_2025 - Google Sheets</p><p >95 Filings since March 27</p><p >The headlines:</p><p >Air Canada CEO will retire this year after his English-only crash message was criticized</p><p >Michael Rousseau is stepping down following a massive public outcry after he delivered a condolence video almost entirely in English regarding a fatal plane crash that killed a French-speaking pilot.</p><p >Critics and politicians, including Quebec’s Premier, were outraged that Rousseau failed to fulfill a high-profile 2021 promise to learn French, vi...
Live from CII Spring Conference 2026: Bertram, sausage sandwiches, and Starbucks
<p >Thanks to Adam, Felix and the Tallen AV team. Thanks to the Council of Institutional Investors for having us, and hopefully we alienated just enough people to get invited back.</p><p ></p><p >This is Proxy Countdown. Welcome to the big CII show for the week of March 9, 2026 alongside my tag team partner Matt Moscardi. I'm Damion Rallis. On today’s very special CII-scented proxy countdown:</p><p ></p><p >A peek into what we do and who we are: storytellers of ESG data and events backed by our exhaustive data set of director performance analytics covering 220,000 directors.</p><...
Vanguard’s fossil fuel settlement, plus early bonus season and more companies down to 2F
<p ></p><p >Trade Wire - BUY/SELL</p><p >Top Stories:</p><p >proxy countdown_trade wire_2025 - Google Sheets</p><p >145 Filings since Feb 5</p><p >The headlines:</p><p >Epstein fallout</p><p >GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC (GS)</p><p >Kathryn H. Ruemmler has determined to retire from her roles as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel</p><p >Epstein; filing says nothing</p><p >Hyatt Hotels Corp (H)</p><p >Executive Chair Thomas J. Pritzker resigned immediately as chair, but will serve the remainder of his term as a director (May 2026)</p><p >Epstein; not mentioned...
