Judge Blocks Vote on Proposal 2 at Next Week's Apple Shareholder Meeting

152516 apple logoA judge has decided to block a vote on Question 2 at Apple's annual shareholder's meeting next week, according to a report from Reuters.

Hedge fund Greenlight Capital, a major shareholder of Apple stock, filed a lawsuit earlier this month asking that Apple be prevented from bundling a number of proposals into one ballot question at the shareholders meeting. The firm argued that the bundling of three separate corporate governance proposals into one question was in violation of SEC rules.

A judge handed hedge fund star David Einhorn a victory in his court battle with Apple Inc on Friday, blocking the iPhone maker from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.

Proposal 2 contains language relating to the term of office of the board of directors, language about the board's ability to issue preferred shares of AAPL stock without shareholder approval, and the establishment of a par value for the company's common stock.

Apple CEO Tim Cook called the lawsuit a "silly sideshow" and "a waste of money for all involved", but the judge presiding over the case disagreed. Apple issued a statement in early January saying it was in "active discussions" about ways to return cash to shareholders as Greenlight head David Einhorn has requested.

Update: AllThingsD has the text of the judge's ruling.

Update 2: Apple has withdrawn Proposal No. 2 from its proxy statement, issuing this statement:

We are disappointed with the court’s ruling. Proposal #2 is part of our efforts to further enhance corporate governance and serve our shareholders’ best interests. Unfortunately, due to today’s decision, shareholders will not be able to vote on Proposal #2 at our annual meeting next week.

Popular Stories

Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
ipad blue prime day

iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition

Wednesday December 10, 2025 12:22 pm PST by
The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup. Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...

Top Rated Comments

komodrone Avatar
167 months ago
can someone explain to me like a 9 year old on what the hell is going on?

how about explain it to me like a 5 year old?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MTL18 Avatar
167 months ago
http://dealbreaker.com/2013/02/david-einhorn-wants-apple-to-issue-pretty-much-all-the-preferred-stock-in-the-world/



basically Einhorn thinks Apple should worth much more than it is right now. In order to reflect that he wants Apple to issue a ton of prefer stocks. Apple thinks that is crazy.

I found this report interesting. The investors and banksters that sent us into 2008 now want to tell the most valuable company in the world (that built it's value during their recession) what to do? And a judge says .... sure...

What a piece of junk system! My 0.02
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SeattleMoose Avatar
167 months ago
The best judicial decision money can buy. The sharks see the pile of cash and will do anything to get it. Einhorn represents everything that is wrong with our financial system. Pretending to be doing this on "behalf of the shareholders". As a shareholder I would much rather have Apple control what they do with THEIR money than some sleazy shark....
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ouimetnick Avatar
167 months ago
This is what I got from reading the article.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MTL18 Avatar
167 months ago
can someone explain to me like a 9 year old on what the hell is going on?

how about explain it to me like a 5 year old?

In as simple of wording as possible - Apple tried to use some trickery on a shareholders vote. A judge deemed it a no go, as it violated rules of the securities and exchanges commission (SEC).
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Squilly Avatar
167 months ago
It's clear Apple doesn't like to lose...

----------

can someone explain to me like a 9 year old on what the hell is going on?

how about explain it to me like a 5 year old?

Apple was sued and lost.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)