S&P 500 Excludes Companies that Limit Shareholders’ Voting Rights

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Jul 31, 2017

On July 31, 2017, the S&P Dow Jones Indices announced its decision regarding multi-class shares and voting rules. Companies that limit shareholders’ voting rights aren’t eligible to become new members of the S&P 500 under the new rule.

S&P Global said in a statement that its rule specifically bars companies with “multiple share classes” from its 500, MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600 indexes. Companies typically use such a structure to grant key executives and investors more votes than other shareholders.

Existing members with multiple classes of stock, including Facebook and Alphabet, are exempted from the rule.

Review the press release on the S&P Dow Jones' website and an article on the Los Angeles Times' website.

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