Mike Jackson gets to keep his titles

AutoNation shareholders vote against proposal to split chairman, CEO roles

AutoNation shareholders voted Thursday against a stockholder proposal that would have required the chairman to be an independent board member.

Currently, Mike Jackson is both chairman and CEO, as well as president, of the nation’s largest auto retailer, which is based in Fort Lauderdale.

Jackson said he was not bothered by the proposal. “I believe in democracy and people being able to express their point of view,” he said after the meeting.

The shareholder proposal, made by California-based shareholder John Chevedden, who has owned stock in AutoNation since 2000, was rejected by 72 percent of shareholders. Chevedden is an activist shareholder who makes proposals at the nation’s largest companies. He has had some success in getting proposals approved. He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment after the vote because he was not at the meeting.

The proposal was made in person by Heather Mar, who did not otherwise identify herself. This was the seventh time Chevedden has made this proposal at AutoNation, company spokesman Marc Cannon said.

AutoNation’s proxy statement to shareholders said the proposal previously has been made by a representative of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union.

The company said three of its 328 repair shops were represented by the union. Jackson said those shops were all acquisitions.

In an earlier interview, Chevedden said he made the shareholder proposal because an independent chair at AutoNation “would make the company more accountable to shareholders.”

AutoNation had recommended shareholders vote against the proposal, saying the company already has a lead independent director. That board member is Michael Larson, who is chief investment officer for multibillionaire Bill

Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and AutoNation’s largest stockholder.

For 2017, AutoNation reported a 6 percent increase in profits to $434.6 million, or $4.43 a share. Revenue was down slightly to $21.5 billion, compared with $21.6 billion in 2016. The company’s first-quarter earnings are scheduled to be released May 1.

Jackson said at the time that lower revenue was due to “disruption” in implementing its one-price approach. He said AutoNation has made changes, including the management structure at car dealerships. AutoNation dealerships also weathered two major hurricanes, August’s Hurricane Harvey in Texas and September’s Irma in Florida.

In late 2016, AutoNation began rolling out a “oneprice” strategy at its dealerships and introduced a new used-car and service store, AutoNation USA, which it is adding across the country.

At the meeting, Jackson said AutoNation’s strategies are working, with more collision centers and used-car stores getting ready to open this year. “It’s all under way,” he said, talking about the company’s $500 million investment over several years in extending its brand.

In 2017, AutoNation also announced a multiyear agreement to support Waymo’s autonomous vehicle program to maximize the life of Waymo’s vehicles across the nation. Waymo is Google-parent Alphabet’s self-driving technology company.

Besides being chairman and CEO, Jackson also plays a role in the banking industry.

In January, he was appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, which recommends changes in the discount rate, the interest rate for lending to other banks. He joined AutoNation in 1999, hired by founder H. Wayne Huizenga, who died on March 22.

AutoNation stock opened Thursday at $46.95, and was up 41 cents or 0.87 percent to $47.49 in early morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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