EMC Shareholders Vote For More Independent Board

EMC Corp.

The resolution was approved Wednesday over the company's objections by a margin of 56 percent of the shares voted at the annual shareholder meeting.

The board's seven members include John Egan, son of founder Richard Egan, and former EMC executive W. Paul Fitzgerald, Richard Egan's brother-in-law.

"The lessons of Enron cry out for checks and balances," said Tim Smith, of Walden Asset Management in Boston, one of the resolution's sponsors along with organizations like the California Public Employees' Retirement System and Institutional Shareholder Services.

The Hopkinton-based company's shares have dropped from a high of $100.99 in September 2000, to $7.87 at the close of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. In April, the company reported its third straight quarterly loss on a 14-percent drop in revenues.

EMC executive chairman Mike Reuttgers said the company's management had opposed the resolution because it would prevent them from recruiting directors with ties to the Fortune 500 companies that typically buy EMC's equipment.

After the vote, he said the company would meet with resolution sponsors and said the move toward a more independent board was "consistent with our own views."

A resolution calling for EMC to include more women and minorities on the board was defeated, with 68 percent of shares cast voting against it.

Calling 2001 "a horrible year," Reuttgers said new studies showed the company winning a growing market share, and promised continued heavy investment in data storage software.

Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.