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

Journalists have a responsibility to plainly tell the truth about how truly different the Democrats and the Republicans are today, especially with both democracy and the rule of law at stake this November.

From Hungary and Poland to Italy and Spain, today's anti-abortionist movements are feeding one another—while also driving a growing counter-movement.

Agriculture, the service economy, sexual exploitation, manufacturing, construction and domestic work drive today's enslavement around the world.

Thanks to the Electoral College, leftists have perhaps the final say this November over whether democracy can hold on for at least another four years, or if fascism will take root and infect all facets of the federal government for decades to come.

What remains unknown is whether post-truth Republicans will succeed in 2024 as the Nazis did in 1933.

Journalists have a responsibility to plainly tell the truth about how truly different the Democrats and the Republicans are today, especially with both democracy and the rule of law at stake this November.

From Hungary and Poland to Italy and Spain, today's anti-abortionist movements are feeding one another—while also driving a growing counter-movement.

Agriculture, the service economy, sexual exploitation, manufacturing, construction and domestic work drive today's enslavement around the world.

Thanks to the Electoral College, leftists have perhaps the final say this November over whether democracy can hold on for at least another four years, or if fascism will take root and infect all facets of the federal government for decades to come.

History shows there are no “one-day” dictatorships. When democracies fall, they typically fall completely.

Thanks to the Electoral College, leftists have perhaps the final say this November over whether democracy can hold on for at least another four years, or if fascism will take root and infect all facets of the federal government for decades to come.

Posted 1 month 2 days ago

What remains unknown is whether post-truth Republicans will succeed in 2024 as the Nazis did in 1933.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

Agriculture, the service economy, sexual exploitation, manufacturing, construction and domestic work drive today's enslavement around the world.

Posted 3 weeks 4 days ago

History shows there are no “one-day” dictatorships. When democracies fall, they typically fall completely.

Posted 1 month 4 days ago

Journalists have a responsibility to plainly tell the truth about how truly different the Democrats and the Republicans are today, especially with both democracy and the rule of law at stake this November.

Posted 1 week 4 days ago

Agriculture, the service economy, sexual exploitation, manufacturing, construction and domestic work drive today's enslavement around the world.