Conservative think tank asks Apple to investigate board member Al Gore for conflict of interest
A conservative think tank that holds shares in Apple is asking the company to investigate whether board member Al Gore violated the company’s business policies by advocating for actions that would be benefit him personally, but not necessarily benefit the company.
The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) has filed the proposal in Apple’s Proxy Statement for the 2012 meeting of shareholders, which will take place in February. Entitled the “Conflict of Interest Report,” NCPPR has requested that Apple’s board of directors look into “board compliance with Apple’s Business Conduct Policy.”
The report, NCPPR wrote, should specifically, “Disclose the investment of board members that could reasonably be viewed as a financial conflict of interest; describe the role board members play in the development of the company’s policies and the process by which Apple determines if board member participation violates its Business Conduct Policy; disclose policies that could financially benefit board members.”
The target of this request, in particular, is former Vice President Gore, and what role he might have played in Apple’s decision to resign its membership from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in