Shareholder proposals seeking to link executive pay to sustainability targets have been gaining traction in recent years. As ESG concerns continue to gain prominence among investors, companies should remain attuned to the novel legal and commercial issues associated with introducing sustainability metrics into executive compensation determinations.
Close followers of Apple may have noticed a novel development in the company’s 2020 proxy statement, which was filed on January 3, 2020. Buried among the usual calls for proxy access and election of directors was a new proposal that the company’s shareholders are being asked to consider for the first time since Apple went public in 1980. The proposal in question asked that Apple consider the viability of linking the company’s executive compensation to Apple’s performance on sustainability metrics.