News
Amazon.com Investors Reject All 14 Outside Proposals at Meeting
By Greg Bensinger
(Reuters) -Amazon.com investors voted against all 14 resolutions that called on the retailer to disclose more about its carbon emissions and its directors’ donations, and to form a committee to oversee the development of artificial intelligence, among others questions.
Amazon announced the preliminary vote at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, where all 12 directors were elected to an additional term.
The company asked shareholders to reject all external proposals. Additional resolutions called for Amazon to create a committee to address the financial impact of policy positions and produce reports on lobbying expenses, warehouse working conditions and packaging materials.
CEO Andy Jassy appeared to indicate that Amazon has no plans to announce a dividend, unlike this year’s moves by rivals Meta Platforms and Alphabet. “We are convinced that the best use of money for customers, companies and shareholders is to invest in the businesses we develop,” he said during a question and answer session.
Amazon and Tesla remain the only members of the so-called Magnificent Seven technology stocks that don’t offer dividends.
Jassy also said that Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant service would receive a “more expansive” generative AI upgrade. “I’m optimistic that we’re going to be a leader here,” he said. CNBC reported Wednesday that Amazon is considering charging customers a monthly fee for using Alexa’s generative AI offerings.
Amazon will later provide a full count of investor votes in a securities filing.
The retailer’s shares were largely unchanged on Wednesday and have gained 22% so far this year.
(Reporting by Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)