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By Tanya Mohn
 Wilma Soss, president of the Federation of Women Shareholders asks a question at the General Electric annual meeting in 1962. Beatrice Kelekian is on the left. Nearly 400 years ago, angry shareholders of the Dutch East India Company pushed for more rights and accused directors of self-dealing. In 19th century America, stockholders kept a close watch on public companies that operated bridges, canals, banks and especially railroads, which resulted in numerous fights for control.
Not much more is known about the early days of shareholder activity, says Colleen Dunlavy, a professor in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There is a dearth of documentation, including in companies’ archives.
But there were two key institutional developments in this country. “One of the big changes over the 19th century was the increasing use of proxies and the corresponding decline in in-person attendance at shareholder meetings,” says Dunlavy, whose research focuses on the history of shareholder voting rights.
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Private companies are increasingly looking to independent voices when forming or updating boards.
They were the hot technology companies that helped shape America (and indeed, the world) by reinventing how we live and do business. However, these corporations grew to dominate their sectors with a powerful fuel -- testosterone, building a powerful, clubby “bro culture” that shut women and minorities out of their executive and leadership ranks.
Corporate directors are optimistic President Donald Trump’s promise the overhaul the nation’s tax system will come to fruition. But most aren’t happy with his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, reports a survey released this week.
