A majority of Oracle's shareholders are of the opinion that Chief Executive Larry Ellison is overpaid.
The shareholders cast their ballots on Thursday, October 31, in a non-binding vote. The vote, even though its does not require Oracle to take any action, is reflective of the shareholders' concerns over high executive pay packets, especially taking into consideration the company's financial results.
According to CtW Investment, nearly 57 percent shareholders voted against Oracle's paying structure, when compared to the 59 percent in 2012. The vote also called for Oracle to "reform Larry Ellison's exorbitant compensation package."
"The ball's in their court," said CtW analyst Michael Pryce-Jones. "They've had two consecutive years of defeats on say-on-pay and so far they've shown an absolute disregard for investor concerns on the issue."
Per Reuters, 2 billion votes were against, whereas "more than 1 billion votes were cast in favor of Oracle's executive compensation" in the initial tally. However, the figures for votes on board members are unavailable.
"Our existing executive compensation program achieves an appropriate balance between encouraging our senior executives to take actions that are consistent with our business strategy ... and discouraging executives from taking inappropriate or unnecessary risks," said Chairman Jeffrey Henley after the vote.
Ellison, who has the distinction of being the third-richest man in the U.S. after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett with a net worth $41 billion, owns one-quarter of Oracle.
69-year old Ellison had bought the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which comes with a "complementary Four Seasons Hotel, for $500 million. Moreover, he has purchased a luxury Hawaiian airliner for an undisclosed sum.
For fiscal 2013, which ended in May, Ellison gave up an annual cash bonus of $1.2 million after Oracle missed growth targets and took a token annual salary of $1. However, he took home stock options valued at $77 million.
Per Oracle, its executive compensation is intended to propel financial performance and its stock value in the long term.
