More on Sun shareholder proposal

Mike Langberg has a an opinion piece in today’s San Jose Mercury News titled "Sun seems hearing-impaired on shareholder concerns".  Langberg talks about the Sun shareholder  proposal that was approved at the shareholders meeting. The proposal that was approved recommended getting rid of  Sun’s anti-takeover defense. The article said that so far this year there have been 25 proposals to remove poison pills at public companies in the U.S. and of those 16 have passed.  His main point is that "Sun ignores last week’s vote at its peril". He says that if some change doesn’t happen the shareholders might unseat board members at next years annual meeting.

I’m still interested in finding out more about William Steiner  the shareholder who put forward the proposal. I wonder if these kinds of shareholder proposals are a hobby for him and what motivates him to submit shareholder proposals.. It would also be interesting to know how many of his proposals pass.

I hear that Sun is doing more lay offs. I talked to a Sun employee today who told me a couple hundred more IT employees were just notified that they are being laid off.  I can tell you from my time at Sun that being in a company that is constantly doing lay offs is demoralizing.

Sun Shareholders Proposal Passes

The headline in the business section of the San Jose Mercury News Friday was "Shareholders Rebuke Sun".  At Sun’s annual meeting shareholders passed  a proposal to get rid of Sun’s  poison pill. The poison pill is designed to make hostile takeovers difficult. I think it is pretty unusual for a shareholders proposal to pass but given how long Sun has been underperfoming it is not surprising. 

The proposal was submitted by a William Steiner.  I am curious to know who he is. A Google search didn’t turn up much other that that he files shareholder proposals quite frequently. Edgar Online shows 356 filings by him over more than 10 years.

Even though the shareholder proposal passed it is not binding so it will be interesting to see if Sun pays attention to what its Shareholders think. I also wonder whether the poison pill  is stopping any potential buyers.

I used to work at Sun and I still own Sun stock. I would have to agree with the other shareholders that a takeover might be the best possible thing for Sun given that current management doesn’t seem to be able to deliver.

Catfish and Mandala

I just finished reading Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham.It is a fascinating, moving, enthralling read. The book was thought provoking on lots of different levels. Pham and his family arrived in the US from Vietnam in 1977 when he was 10. Catfish and Mandala is the story of his family and of his life both in Vietnam and as an American immigrant.  It is also the story of his return to Vietnam and of his journey by bicycle through Vietnam. Although  the book is about his travels it is much more an exploration of Pham’s Vietnamese American  experience. It is really hard to describe this book because it delves into so much. But I couldn’t help feeling a connection to Pham  even though so much  of what he experienced is so alien to anything I have every experienced. Pham is an extraordinarily talented writer. I highly recommend the book.

I’m in Atlanta

I’m in Atlanta (actually Marietta) on business. The flight was smooth and on time, direct from Oakland to Atlanta. This is my first visit to Georgia outside of the Atlanta airport. I’m going to be pretty busy with meetings so I don’t imagine I’ll get to see much but it is still nice to be some place new. I ordered sweet tea with dinner, something I only do when I am in the south.