Read

User menu

Search form

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Flood Morgan Stanley Annual Shareholder Meeting

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Flood Morgan Stanley Annual Shareholder Meeting
Thu, 5/17/2012 - by Alex Moore
This article originally appeared on Death and Taxes

Photo: Mario Tama. A group of Occupy Wall Street protesters gathers in front of Morgan Stanley's offices last October.

Occupy Wall Street held a day of action Tuesday, part of a larger weeklong schedule of protests that coincidentally aligns with Internet Week in New York. First up on Occupy’s agenda yesterday morning: a protest at Morgan Stanley’s annual shareholder’s meeting.

The Morgan Stanley protest made headlines with the Wall Street Journal and Reuters with tactics that were very effective. Occupy protesters streamed into the shareholders’ meeting unannounced and proceeded to directly engage CEO James Gorman and corporate secretary Martin Cohen as they waded through what are generally routine proceedings.

The Wall Street Journal notes that of all public attendees present at the meeting fully half of them were Occupy protesters, and “Gorman faced more than a dozen questions from OWS members and only a few from supportive shareholders.”

This is a new strategy for Occupy—directly confronting CEOs and demanding more equitable wealth disbursement in America.

Of course Gorman pushed back, declaring, “I take umbrage at the suggestion that our board did anything unethical,” and saying of the industry’s policies that lead to the ’08 crash, “I don’t regard those as immoral or unethical.” Gorman also insisted JP Morgan’s recent $2 billion loss won’t be repeated at Morgan Stanley.

According to reports the protesters engaged Gorman with specific questions for over an hour. But of course, neither WSJ nor Reuters bothered to report on the content of those questions or Gorman’s answers. Reuters does express express the sentiment of one shareholder, who said, “I want the stock to go back to where it was – that’s all I want.” Nice.

Using a tactic of interrupting the corporate secretary’s announcement of the shareholder vote on executive pay, the protesters got their message across as they chanted, “We will not be quiet until we create a system that prevents the 1 percent from ripping off the 99 percent.”

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.

The only thing overshadowing the evil of the regime is its incompetence. And the people are only just beginning to realize the power we have.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

In a political earthquake last year, the populist and racist Reform Party took 4.1 million votes, coming third, against a backdrop of collapsing living standards and accelerating impoverishment.

There are multiple similarities between Trump and the British monarch when looking at the 27 grievances the framers outlined in their 1776 declaration.

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.

The only thing overshadowing the evil of the regime is its incompetence. And the people are only just beginning to realize the power we have.

A broad range of Americans are organizing a 24-hour economic boycott on February 28th to protest the ongoing actions of the Trump administration and to send a message to corporate America.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

In a political earthquake last year, the populist and racist Reform Party took 4.1 million votes, coming third, against a backdrop of collapsing living standards and accelerating impoverishment.

It isn’t difficult to argue that Musk is likely a white supremacist obsessed with increasing the white birthrate and simultaneously killing off undesirables by cutting off their aid.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

There are multiple similarities between Trump and the British monarch when looking at the 27 grievances the framers outlined in their 1776 declaration.

Posted 1 month 2 weeks ago

A broad range of Americans are organizing a 24-hour economic boycott on February 28th to protest the ongoing actions of the Trump administration and to send a message to corporate America.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

The grassroots opposition to President Donald Trump is hitting the streets everywhere.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

The burgeoning pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement known as 50501 expects to drive tens and possibly hundreds of thousands to protest in 1,000 cities and towns on Saturday.

Posted 4 days 13 hours ago