Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Agree Realty Corporation 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Mr. Richard Agree. Please go ahead.
Thank you. The meeting will please come to order. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Richard Agree, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Agree Realty Corporation. I will act as chairman of the meeting, and Peter Coughenour, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the company, will act as Secretary of the meeting. Consistent with the past few years, our annual meeting is being conducted in a virtual-only format. We have designed our virtual format to enhance rather than constrain stockholder access, participation, and communication. During the live Q&A session, we will answer questions as they come in to the extent relevant to the business of the annual meeting and as time permits.
First, I would like to introduce the other members of our board of directors: Karen Dearing, Merrie Frankel, Linglong He, Michael Hollman, Michael Judlowe, Gregory Lehmkuhl, Ambassador John Rakolta Jr., Jerome Rossi, and Joey Agree, President and CEO of Agree Realty. In addition, I'd like to introduce Greg Ross from the accounting firm of Grant Thornton LLP, which was appointed as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2024. I'd like to welcome all of you and express my thanks to each of you for taking the time to attend our annual meeting. March 15, 2024, was a record date fixed for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote. As of the record date, there were 106,629,054 shares of common stock outstanding.
Mr. Chairman, I have in my possession an affidavit from Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., showing that on April 12, 2024, the proxy statement, the 2024 Annual Report to the company's stockholders, and the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or the notice only, were mailed to the record holders of our common stock as of March 15, 2024.
The Secretary will file the original affidavit with the records of the company. Voting at the annual meeting will be done electronically through the Broadridge Virtual Meeting platform. The results of the voting will be reported before the meeting is adjourned. If you have mailed or otherwise delivered a proxy, your shares will be voted in the manner in which you have specified in your proxy. It will not be necessary for you to vote electronically. If there are any shareholders who wish to file proxies who have not already done so, they should do so at this time. If there are any shareholders who will be voting their shares in person and not by proxy, as they indicated at an earlier time, they should do so through the virtual meeting platform.
If there are any persons who are acting as proxies for shareholders who have not filed their proxies, they should file their proxies through the virtual meeting platform provided by Broadridge. Will the Secretary please report to the meeting the approximate number of shares which are present or represented at this meeting?
Mr. Chairman, the stockholders entitled to cast more than a majority of the 100,629,054 votes, which may be cast at this meeting, are present, virtually or by proxy.
Since a quorum is present, we are now ready to proceed with the transaction of business. This annual meeting has been called for the purposes set forth in the notice of annual meeting of stockholders and the proxy statement. The first order of business is the election of four directors to serve a term of three years until the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders. Nominations are now in order. Each director will serve until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified or as otherwise provided in the bylaws of the company.
In accordance with the recommendation of the Nominating and Governance Committee, the board of directors of the company has nominated Mr. Richard Agree, Ms. Karen Dearing, Ms. Linglong He, and Mr. Michael Hollman to hold office for a term of three years until 2027 annual meeting of stockholders, and until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified, or as otherwise provided in the bylaws of the company.
Are there any comments with respect to the nomination for directors? The next order of business is the ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2024. May I have a motion?
In accordance with the vote of the Audit Committee, the board recommends that the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2024 be ratified.
Greg Ross of Grant Thornton is present at this meeting and available to respond to appropriate questions from shareholders. Are there any questions for him or any comments with respect to such ratification? The next order of business is the approval by non-binding vote, the compensation of the company's named executive officers. This resolution provides that stockholders approve on an advisory basis, the compensation of the company's named executive officers, as disclosed in the company's proxy statement, pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the compensation discussion and analysis, the compensation tables, and the other related disclosure. May I have a motion, please?
The board recommends that the shareholders approve the advisory vote on the compensation of our Named Executive Officers, as disclosed in the company's Proxy Statement.
Are there any questions or comments on this proposal? The next order of business is the approval of the 2024 Omnibus Incentive Plan. The 2024 Omnibus Incentive Plan would replace the 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan, and all subsequent awards will be made under the 2024, 2024 plan. I have a motion.
At the direction of the board of directors of the company, I move that the shareholders approve the 2024 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
Are there any questions or comments on this proposal? I now declare the polls open. For those stockholders attending the meeting virtually who wish to vote, you may vote now by clicking on the voting prompts on your screen. Has everyone had the opportunity to vote for the proposals presented? Since I received no negative response, I declare the polls closed. We will now proceed with the results of voting on the proposals presented at the meeting. Will the secretary read the report of the results of the vote taken at the meeting?
Our tally of the votes cast at the meeting indicates the following results: With respect to the election of directors, the holders of approximately 90% of shares voted for each of the nominees for director. With respect to the ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP, approximately 99% of shares voted for the ratification of the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP. With respect to the approval by non-binding vote of executive compensation, approximately 93% of shares voted for the approval of executive compensation. With respect to the approval of the 2024 Omnibus Incentive Plan, approximately 96% of shares voted for the approval of the 2024 Omnibus Incentive Plan. The final tally of the votes cast at today's meeting will be filed in a Form 8-K within 4 business days.
With respect to the election of directors, each of the four nominees has therefore elected a director of the company. The director shall take office immediately and serve until the end of their terms and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, or as otherwise provided by the bylaws of the company. Further, the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2024 has been ratified. Further, the shareholders have approved by non-binding vote the executive compensation as disclosed in the company's proxy statement, pursuant to the disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables, and other related disclosure. Lastly, the shareholders approved the 2024 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
I hereby direct the secretary's report of the voting results, which contains the information just announced in the meeting, to be filed with the minutes of this meeting. There being no further business to come before the meeting, a motion to adjourn is in order.
I move that the meeting be adjourned.
Those in favor signify by saying aye.
Aye.
Those opposed signify by saying no. The motion is carried, and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you.
This concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect.