A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Virtual Annual Meetings: 2020 Year in Review
Before beginning, I should let readers know that I have sources noted in a Word version of this post but cannot insert footnotes or endnotes in this post. If you are interested in the citations, please leave a comment. Hello Earth: Introduction 2020 saw substantial changes in how annual shareholder meetings are conducted. In 2019, only a few hundred companies hosted annual meetings online, some with and others without an in-person component (" hybrid annual meetings " and " virtual annual meetings ", respectively). As of May 13, 2020, over 2, 200 companies had already held virtual annual meetings. The use of virtual annual meetings exploded in 2020 because of corporations' rapid response to the novel coronavirus (" COVID-19 "). It was impossible to convene physically because of the public health risk and legal stay-at-home orders, and yet corporations are required by law to host annual meetings. Companies responded quickly to the changed circumstance b...