Broadly considered, stockholder activism has been a significant phenomenon among the largest U.S. public companies, with activists of a variety of stripes waging campaigns on a wide range of issues including in the form of stockholder proposals and voting activities. As such activism has continued to grow, it has spread to companies based in Silicon Valley.

In addition, state corporate law, the requirements of the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or stock exchanges, corporate governance practices and tax laws also lead companies to place a variety of proposals before stockholders for approval. In recent years, investors and activist stockholders alike have focused their attention on public companies’ efforts to address larger environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.