Microsoft holds annual shareholder meeting

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 2, 2015 — Speaking to shareholders at Microsoft Corp.’s annual meeting today, chief executive officer Satya Nadella highlighted the company’s strategic and cultural transformation that position it for new growth opportunities.

“For us, everything we do is motivated by our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more,” Nadella said. “We’re transforming our culture by approaching every day with a growth mindset and desire to delight our customers, so we realize our mission and ultimately drive long-term value for our shareholders.”

Executive vice president and chief financial officer Amy Hood recapped Microsoft’s solid fiscal year 2015 performance and reported a strong start to the current fiscal year. Hood noted that the company remains fiscally disciplined while investing in high-growth opportunities to deliver long-term shareholder value.

The following proposals were acted on by the company’s shareholders at the meeting:

• Elected 11 directors to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders. All director nominees received a vote of more than 93 percent of votes cast. The new additions to Microsoft’s board of directors include Sandra Peterson and Padmasree Warrior.
• Approved, on an advisory basis, the fiscal year 2015 compensation of the company’s named executive officers. The advisory measure received more than 72 percent of votes cast.
• Ratified the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company’s independent auditor, with a vote of nearly 94 percent of votes cast.

Microsoft’s board of directors consists of John W. Thompson, Microsoft independent chairman and chief executive officer of Virtual Instruments; William H. Gates, Microsoft founder and technology advisor; Teri List-Stoll, executive vice president and chief financial officer of DICK’S Sporting Goods Inc.; G. Mason Morfit, president, ValueAct Capital; Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Microsoft; Charles H. Noski, former vice chairman of Bank of America Corp.; Dr. Helmut Panke, former chairman of the board of management at BMW AG; Sandra E. Peterson, group worldwide chairman, Johnson & Johnson; Charles W. Scharf, chief executive officer of Visa Inc.; John W. Stanton, chairman, Trilogy Equity Partners and Trilogy International Partners; and Padmasree Warrior, former chief technology and strategy officer of Cisco Systems Inc. Nine of the 11 board members are independent of Microsoft, which is consistent with the requirement in the company’s governance guidelines that a substantial majority be independent.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.