Betfair AGM pt. 2
Having been to many AGM’s in the past I didn’t expect much from Betfair’s first AGM.
I almost didn’t get in as Betfair were blocking access to people who have nominee accounts. Not many people own shares directly any longer, but I’d never been blocked access to an AGM before despite this. However, I had contacted Betfair directly before the AGM to indicate that I was going to attend; so this piece of foresight was enough to get over this difficulty. Unfortunately I had to waive my right to vote and ask questions to achieve this.
The room was buzzing with the news that Ed Wray had announced that he would step down but, as with most AGM’s, there were not actually very many shareholders or proxies in attendance. Shareholdings are a great piece of democratic capitalism, unfortunately it’s poorly understand and significantly underused.
The AGM was held at BAFTA in Picadilly. Richard Grant waltzed up the stairs when I was there and each seat in the, sparsely populated, auditorium was endowed by one celebrity or the other. The AGM followed a familiar format where the CEO does a quick presentation and gives an updated on current trading. That is followed by Q&A’s and the formal business of voting for or against resolutions (most of which is done electronically nowadays).
The questions were not particularly probing, but there was one shareholder who was deeply questioning an incentive plan. There were many more questions that could and should have been asked IMHO. After about an hour everybody headed downstairs for some refreshments.
At this point I did get the chance to ask questions, so I sought out a number of boards members. Courtesy prevents me from divulging the discussions but I was given plenty of opportunity to put forward and discuss a number of items directly to the board and that was the main objective for my attendance.
On the way out I shareholders and the board were greeted by a Betfair customer upset at having £52k of premium charges deducted from his account. His activism appears to have worked as his details were published in the Guardian today along with a less than flattering account of the press ban that Betfair appear to have had at the meeting.
Overall this AGM was little different from many others I had attended, but it was nice to finally get to the talk to the board face to face and I appreciate they took the time to listen. I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to have represented Bet Angel customers at the meeting.
Category: Betfair
