Tenet shareholders nixed the idea of requiring the company to choose a board chairperson who has never served as an executive officer for the company, according to HealthLeaders Media.
Here are four insights.
1. The proposal was put forth by the Graphic Communications Conference IBT Benevolent Trust Fund U.S., which holds 435 shares of Tenet common stock.
2. The small trust fund pointed to two directors' sudden resignations in August 2017 and the exit of Tenet's former chairman and CEO Trevor Fetter in October 2017 as justification for the proposal.
"In our view, there would be far less leadership and governance uncertainty if the company had maintained the independent board chairman structure it had prior to 2015," the proposal stated.
3. Tenet's leadership urged investors to oppose the requirement, arguing it was neither necessary nor in the company's best interest.
The company said its board's leadership is already independent, a non-independent chairperson is an industry norm, and 11 of its 12 directors satisfy the independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and Tenet government polices.
4. Investors holding nearly 15.7 million shares voted for the proposal, while investors holding approximately 65.9 million shares opposed the requirement. About 271 thousand shares were abstained.