Ryanair shareholders expressed their frustration at management on Thursday morning by re-electing the company’s chairman by a significantly narrower margin than last year after a year overshadowed by the company’s worst-ever industrial action.
Chairman David Bonderman was re-elected with 70.5 percent of votes, compared to 89 percent who voted in favour last year.
Ryanair Shareholders Approve All Resolutions by Large Majorities at its AGM.
Read more below…
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) 20 September 2018
Nevertheless, outspoken Chief Executive Michael O’Leary secured overwhelming re-election to the board with 98.5 percent of the vote, down from 99 percent last year.
“In every case we have substantial majorities,” O’Leary told the meeting. “The overwhelming majority of our shareholders are supportive [of Bonderman] … and we should be very appreciative.”
O’Leary also apparently asked by the company’s remuneration committee to extend his contract beyond 2019.
Several investors, including Royal London Asset Management and Britain’s Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), had announced publicly that they would oppose Bonderman’s re-election.
BREAKING: DAVID BONDERMAN RESIGNS FROM UBER BOARD OF DIRECTORShttps://t.co/vX0yxBKTWq
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) June 14, 2017
Investors cited the company’s treatment of staff and the need for renewal on the board for their opposition to Bonderman.
Bonderman, who is a founder of private equity firm TPG Capital, placed himself in how water last year after he was forced to resigned from the board of Uber after making an ill-judged joke that more women on the board means “more talking”.