Ford shareholders want promoter family stripped of super voting rights

Our Corporate Bureau
11 May 2007

Mumbai: Angry shareholders at Ford Motor Co.'s annual general meeting have voted in favour of a resolution seeking to strip the Ford family of their super-voting rights even as losses mounted for the world's third largest automaker.

Nearly 27.4 per cent of the shareholders voted in favor of a resolution seeking to strip the family's special Class B shares of their super-voting power.

Excluding Ford family stock, about half of Ford shareholders endorsed the resolution, according to shareholder John Chevedden, who introduced the resolution.

While a similar resolution a year ago had won 23 per cent of the vote, more shareholders appear to be losing their patience with the Ford family's century-long leadership of the company.

Ford executive chairman Bill Ford Jr. and chief executive Alan Mulally defended their strategy and sought more time to deliver results. They also defended the family's continuing control of Ford.