Shareholders

washington -- Mitt Romney twice emphasized his unique business background when he and eight other Republican presidential candidates faced off in a debate last week in Iowa. "I've spent the last, as I've told you, 25 years in the private sector," former Massachusetts Gov. Romney declared at one point. "I understand why jobs come and why jobs go. I've done business in 20 countries."

SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc., addressing issues that have drawn heavy criticism of the company, told shareholders that it planned to improve warehouse conditions and drop its membership in a conservative public-policy organization. More than 100 protesters rallied outside the company's annual shareholders meeting Thursday at the Seattle Art Museum, calling on the Internet retailer to pay more taxes, treat its workers better and drop its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council.

The shareholder rejection of Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's $15-million pay package has some on Wall Street wondering if the same fate might be in store for the heads of other big U.S. banks. Both Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. will ask shareholders in the coming weeks to vote on a "say on pay" proposal. Corporate governance experts and activist shareholders expect that these votes will capture even more attention now that Citi's shareholders have said they want Pandit's compensation to be dialed back.

Benihana Inc., the Japanese-style and sushi restaurant chain known for slicing, dicing and frying food in front of diners, has accepted an offer to be sold to a private equity group for $296 million. Angelo, Gordon & Co. plans to pay Benihana shareholders $16.30 a share in cash in a transaction that's been approved by the Miami-based chain's board. Benihana shareholders must also approve the acquisition. The price is a premium of 46% over the average closing price for the 30 days before March 13, when Benihana first said it was exploring strategic alternatives for its business.

There wasn't much to like about Facebook's first day as a public company. The social media giant's stock rose by mere pennies in its initial public offering. The shares closed at $38.23, barely above the $38 IPO price. The performance fell far short of the grandiose expectations of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, and raised questions about whether the company's stock will be the sure bet many had counted on. "There was all this pressure and hype and attention with all eyes on Facebook — and the starlet tripped on the red carpet," said Max Wolff, an analyst at GreenCrest Capital Management in New York.

An influential proxy advisor criticized Walt Disney Co.'s board of directors for naming Chief Executive Robert A. Iger as the company's next chairman, a decision that it claims "reversed a commitment to independent board leadership. " Disney disputed Institutional Shareholder Services' contention in a regulatory filing Thursday, calling it "false — no such commitment was made. " The matter of an independent board chairman dates from a contentious period of the company's history, in early 2004, when 45% of Disney's shareholders heeded the late Roy E. Disney's call to cast a vote of no confidence in then-Chairman and Chief Executive Michael D. Eisner.

TAMPA, Fla. - After surviving a push to oust him as chairman, embattled JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon now faces a Justice Department probe into how the bank lost $2 billion from risky trades. The investigation, being handled by the FBI's financial crimes squad in New York, is still at a preliminary stage. But it adds to mounting scrutiny into the bank's global trading business, which already is the target of inquiries by the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Discussions of safety were prominent at Chevron Corp's annual shareholder meeting in Houston on Wednesday as a blown-out BP well continued to spew oil into the Gulf of Mexico. John Watson, who took over as chief executive and chairman of the second-largest U.S. oil company this year, highlighted Chevron's improving safety record in an industry that he said could never completely eliminate risk. "But we can mitigate risk," Watson told the meeting as he discussed last month's explosion on a BP-operated offshore rig that led to the spill.

OMAHA, Neb. - Warren Buffett worked to reassure shareholders that he's feeling good after his recent prostate cancer diagnosis, and that Berkshire Hathaway is ready to replace the revered 81-year-old investor when the need arises. Based on the questions Buffett got from the crowd of more than 30,000 at the company's annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday, Berkshire shareholders are taking him at his word. Although Buffett just disclosed the condition last month, he didn't face the first question about his health until well into Saturday's questioning.

Financial reform seems certain to usher in rules that shareholder advocates have been trying to win for decades as a way to rein in runaway executive pay and make corporate boards more responsive to shareholders. That could be very good news for the roughly 70% of investors who hold company stocks in their investment portfolios. Issues including better regulation of both financial and consumer services are part of the sweeping financial reform measure that's now being reconciled in Congress and is expected to land on President Obama's desk before July 4. Although all the details won't be known until the reconciliation between the House and Senate bills is complete, experts believe the bulk of these "corporate governance" rules are likely to survive.

So, against all odds, you managed to get your hands on a few shares of Facebook stock via one of the most hyped initial public offerings of all time and managed to survive its messy first day of trading. Congratulations. You're now married to Mark Zuckerberg. The 28-year-old company founder is today one of the most deeply-entrenched chief executives in American business. Thanks to a two-class stock structure, Zuckerberg will own about 28% of Facebook but control 57% of all shareholder votes.

TAMPA, Fla. - After surviving a push to oust him as chairman, embattled JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon now faces a Justice Department probe into how the bank lost $2 billion from risky trades. The investigation, being handled by the FBI's financial crimes squad in New York, is still at a preliminary stage. But it adds to mounting scrutiny into the bank's global trading business, which already is the target of inquiries by the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Yahoo Inc.Chief Executive Scott Thompson resigned from the digital media company Sunday after a dissident shareholder called attention to his apparent misrepresentation of his college credentials. Ross Levinsohn, formerly Yahoo's executive vice president of the Americas region, was named interim chief executive, the company said in a statement. The board of directors also named Alfred Amoroso its new chairman. Amoroso, who is chief executive of Santa Clara software company Rovi Corp., replaces Yahoo board member Roy Bostock, the founder and chairman of Sealedge Investments.

OMAHA, Neb. - Warren Buffett worked to reassure shareholders that he's feeling good after his recent prostate cancer diagnosis, and that Berkshire Hathaway is ready to replace the revered 81-year-old investor when the need arises. Based on the questions Buffett got from the crowd of more than 30,000 at the company's annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday, Berkshire shareholders are taking him at his word. Although Buffett just disclosed the condition last month, he didn't face the first question about his health until well into Saturday's questioning.

A Los Angeles private equity firm might be reconsidering its $1.1-billion buyout of Pep Boys. The Gores Group asked the automotive repair chain to delay a May 30 shareholder meeting where investors were to be asked to approve the $15-a-share deal, according to regulatory filings. The firm told the retailer that it wanted to take a closer look at "serious deterioration in the Pep Boys business. " Pep Boys — which is based in Philadelphia but has 130 shops in California, the most in any state — said Tuesday that it would post disappointing first-quarter results.

SAN FRANCISCO — Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive John Stumpf got to keep his pay, but little else went the banker's way during an acrimonious annual shareholder meeting. Demonstrators swarmed the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco's financial district to protest the bank's lending and foreclosure policies. Some shareholders couldn't get into the meeting as the crowd, which police estimated exceeded 1,000 people, shut down nearby streets. Inside the meeting, Stumpf was disrupted by protesters who made it into the auditorium: "The time for talk is over," said Richard Smith, an Episcopal priest in the low-income Mission District who urged Wells Fargo executives to show compassion for struggling borrowers.

The shareholders accepted a $450,000 settlement from a group of defendants that included Bear, Stearns & Co., A. G. Becker-Warburg Paribas Becker Inc. and 74 other securities firms that underwrote the October, 1982, public offering of Pacific Express airline shares. The shareholders charged that the Pacific Express prospectus was misleading because it didn't include info1919770996commuter airline based in Chino, Calif., ceased operations when it filed for bankruptcy protection in February,

Re: Kathy Kristof's personal finance column "Blame high exec pay on corporate boards," June 14: One major culprit in this corporate charade was left out: the institutions, mainly mutual funds, that control more than 65% of shareholder votes. The institutions want investing "advice" and special access to bonds and other corporate offerings. Corporate managements want support for their proposals. These unholy alliances quietly emasculate attempts by individual shareholders to achieve change.