CSX shareholders approve $84m payment for Harrison

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based Class I railway’s shareholders voted 93 percent in favor of making the $84 million payment in connection with the retention of E. Hunter Harrison as chief executive officer.    CSX Corp.’s preliminary results from its annual shareholders meeting show that shareholders approved, on an advisory basis, the reimbursement arrangements sought in connection with the retention of E. Hunter Harrison as chief executive officer.
   Shareholders voted 93 percent in favor of making the $84 million payment negotiated as part of Harrison joining the company.
   Of the $84 million, $29 million will go to Harrison for compensation he earned at his previous employer, Canadian Pacific Railway, which he had to forfeit in order to join CSX, while the remaining $55 million will go to hedge fund Mantle Ridge for reimbursement of payments it made to Harrison to get him to come to CSX, ABC News reported.
   During the meeting, 72-year-old Harrison reassured CSX’s shareholders that he is able to lead a turnaround despite an undisclosed medical condition that requires supplemental oxygen, Fox Business reported.
   Harrison stepped down as president and CEO of Canadian Pacific in January and was named CEO of CSX in March. He was also the former president and CEO of Canadian National.
   According to CSX, preliminary results from the annual meeting show that shareholders also:
     • Elected all 13 nominees to the board of directors named in the company’s proxy statement;
     • Ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2017;
     • Approved an advisory resolution concerning compensation of CSX’s named executive officers;
     • And voted in favor of an advisory resolution on the frequency of future advisory notes on the compensation of the company’s named executive officers.