MARATHON OIL CORPORATION | Support simple majority vote at MARATHON OIL CORPORATION

Status
AGM passed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
6
Resolution details
Company ticker
MRO
Lead filer
Resolution ask
Adopt or amend a policy
ESG theme
  • Governance
ESG sub-theme
  • Shareholder rights
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Energy
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request that our board take each step necessary so that each voting requirement in our charter and
bylaws (that is explicit or implicit due to default to state law) that calls for a greater than simple majority vote be
replaced by a requirement for a majority of the votes cast for and against applicable proposals, or a simple majority
in compliance with applicable laws. If necessary this means the closest standard to a majority of the votes cast for
and against such proposals consistent with applicable laws. This includes making the necessary changes in plain
English.
Supporting statement
Filed by John Chevedden. Shareholders request that our board take each step necessary so that each voting requirement in our charter and
bylaws (that is explicit or implicit due to default to state law) that calls for a greater than simple majority vote be
replaced by a requirement for a majority of the votes cast for and against applicable proposals, or a simple majority
in compliance with applicable laws. If necessary this means the closest standard to a majority of the votes cast for
and against such proposals consistent with applicable laws. This includes making the necessary changes in plain
English.
The Marathon Petroleum Board of Directors put this important proposal topic on the 2023 MPC annual meeting ballot
and failed by not a large margin to obtain the required 80% vote from all shares outstanding for the 3rd time since
2020 since less than 80% of MPC shares typically cast ballots. It is time that the MPC Board of Directors stop
exercising its shareholders on this topic and get serious with adopting this important topic.
The 80% approval requirement was adopted decades ago, not because it had any merit, but because it was adopted
at a time when good corporate governance was not considered important plus mutual funds and institutional
investors then did not fully recognize their duty to vote on corporate governance issues in the best interest of
shareholders.
In order to gauge whether the MPC Board is really serious about adopting this important proposal topic it would be of
use to shareholders for the Board of Directors to prepare a detailed report, omitting proprietary data, on the Board of
Directors' expenses to proxy solicitors and other vendors to obtain the challenging 80% approval requirement from
all shares outstanding on this proposal topic when less than 80% of MPC shares typically cast ballots. This report
need not be prepared if each next MPC Board of Directors proposal on this important topic receive the required 80%
vote.
At least a preliminary report shall be included with the Item 5.07 filing within 4-days of the annual meeting and a final
report shall be included in an Item 5.07 filing within 30-days of the annual meeting.

DISCLAIMER: By including a shareholder resolution or management proposal in this database, neither the PRI nor the sponsor of the resolution or proposal is seeking authority to act as proxy for any shareholder; shareholders should vote their proxies in accordance with their own policies and requirements.

Any voting recommendations set forth in the descriptions of the resolutions and management proposals included in this database are made by the sponsors of those resolutions and proposals, and do not represent the views of the PRI.

Information on the shareholder resolutions, management proposals and votes in this database have been obtained from sources that are believed to be reliable, but the PRI does not represent that it is accurate, complete, or up-to-date, including information relating to resolutions and management proposals, other signatories’ vote pre-declarations (including voting rationales), or the current status of a resolution or proposal. You should consult companies’ proxy statements for complete information on all matters to be voted on at a meeting.