by FOX business correspondent Susan Li shares her key takeaways from a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook after the company reported its earnings in The Evening Edit.
An activist shareholder is trying to remove climate change activist Al Gore from his longtime position on Apple Inc.’s board of directors.
Business ethics watchdog the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed an exemption request with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, urging other Apple shareholders to oppose Gore as a director at the tech giant’s planned annual meeting Nominee March, arguing that the former US vice president is unqualified for the role and that “his political activism poses a reputational risk to Apple that’s not worth his limited skills.”
An activist shareholder is seeking to remove the aforementioned climate change activist Al Gore from his longstanding position on Apple Inc.’s board of directors. (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File/Getty Images)
Gore is Apple’s longest-serving director and was first elected to the board in 2003. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement at the time: “Having helped lead the largest organization, Al brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom to Apple and the world – the United States government – as a Congressman, Senator and our 45th vice president.” Jobs added that the company was “excited and honored [Gore] has selected Apple as his first private sector executive of which he is a member.”
But the NLPC says it’s time for Gore to go.
CCP-BACKED TECH COMPANIES ARE READY TO PAY BY BIDENS CLIMATE BILL, NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERTS WARN
“Al Gore was never qualified to serve on Apple’s board of directors in the first place, so it’s absurd that he’s staying on for more than 20 years,” Paul Chesser, NLPC’s corporate integrity project director, told FOX Business. “The only evidence he had, or ever had, that met one of Apple’s questionable criteria was that he was a global warming chicken little.” This term was so discredited that it is now called ‘climate change’. And so many of his other doom prophecies have been proven wrong that he should be considered a false prophet.”
Al Gore, Chairman of Generation Investment Management LLP, speaks during a plenary session at the COP27 climate change conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 7, 2022. (Islam Safwat/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Chesser accuses Gore of profiting from what Chesser calls the “fraudulent cause” of climate change. He claims the vice president is guilty of hypocrisy because of his heavy use of electricity at his home in Tennessee and the former vice president’s penchant for air travel, which he allegedly negates with carbon offsets.
Chesser also pointed to recent reports that Gore’s “green-friendly” investment firm Generation Investment Management has invested billions in nearly two dozen companies that have seen increases in greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.
CLIMATE ACTIVIST DEMS LOST MORE THAN $1.4 MILLION ON PRIVATE JETS DURING INTERMEDIATE TIMES
“Time has proven that any credibility Al Gore may have had is utterly shattered, and he doesn’t even remotely belong on a company’s board of directors,” Chesser said. “Apple shareholders should resist his renomination.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/File/Getty Images)
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 149.40 | +0.49 | +0.33% |
The NLPC also filed a separate indemnity notice urging Apple shareholders to oppose CEO Tim Cook’s reappointment to the board, and the NLPC supports a shareholder proposal asking Apple to consider its risks of doing business — and the scope thereof – to disclose more fully its supply chain – in China.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Neither Apple nor Gore immediately responded to FOX Business’s request for comment on the NLPC’s filings.
