NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank of America chief executive officer Ken Lewis was ousted from his role as chairman of the bank after shareholders approved a proposal to require that the company have an independent chairman.
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis was stripped
of his title as chairman following the company's
annual shareholder meeting Wednesday.
Walter Massey, a former president of Morehouse College
and a long-time Bank of America director,
is replacing Lewis as the bank's chairman.The bank announced Thursday that Lewis would remain president and CEO of the company. Long-time Bank of America director Dr. Walter E. Massey, a former president of Morehouse College, will replace Lewis as chairman.
Lewis, Massey and 16 other company directors were reelected to the board by comfortable margins at the company's annual shareholder meeting, the bank said.
But in a separate vote, shareholders narrowly approved a resolution to separate the chairman and CEO roles. This represents a significant victory for shareholder activists who ran an aggressive campaign aimed at stripping Lewis of his chairman title.
Wall Street was keeping a close eye on Wednesday's outcome after the results of the election were delayed by several hours due to a heavy volume of votes cast.
Votes at annual shareholder meetings usually do not reach this level of controversy, as large institutional investors like mutual funds tend to vote with management...
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http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/29/news/companies/bofa_shareholders/index.htm?postversion=2009042918