Walt Disney Company shareholders re-elected all 10 of the company’s Board of Directors on Thursday during an annual meeting at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco.
Shareholders also supported Board recommendations on the company’s auditor and the advisory vote on executive compensation, based on preliminary results.
“We’ve had four straight years of record results,” Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger told shareholders. “Driven by extraordinary creativity, innovative technology and global expansion, 2014 was in fact the best year in our history. Our revenue was up 8 percent to $48.8 billion, our net income was up 22 percent to $7.5 billion, and our EPS was up 26 percent to $4.26.”
“Total shareholder return for the year was 38 percent — almost double the 20 percent return delivered by the S&P 500 during the same period — and we also paid our 59th straight year of dividends, increasing the dividend per share by 34 percent,” he also noted.
Iger himself was one of the re-elected, along with Susan E. Arnold, John S. Chen, Jack Dorsey, Fred H. Langhammer, Aylwin B. Lewis, Monica C. Lozano, Robert W. Matschullat, Sheryl K. Sandberg and Orin C. Smith.
Additionally, shareholders ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s independent accountant for the fiscal year ending October 3, 2015. They also approved the advisory resolution on executive compensation.
The shareholders agreed with the board in rejecting two shareholder proposals, one regarding the future selection of an independent Board Chairman, and the other limiting accelerated executive pay.
Final voting tallies from this year’s annual meeting are subject to certification by Disney’s inspector of elections, and will be included in the company’s report to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within a week, according to the release.
As TheWrap previously reported, voting results were only one of the big takeaways from Thursday’s annual meeting. Disney and Pixar Animation Studios COO John Lasseter revealed “Frozen 2” was officially in the works. Also, Iger revealed the release date of “Star Wars: Episode VIII,” which hits theaters on May 26, 2017, and a title for the first standalone “Star Wars” movie, “Rogue One,” set for 2016.