Good morning. It is now 10:30 A.M. Thank you for attending our 2026 annual meeting. I am Bill Brown, and I am presiding as the chairman of the meeting. Apur Patel, who is our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, will act as Secretary of the meeting. Niko Lahanas, our CEO, and Brad Smith, our CFO, are here with us today. I would now like to introduce Niko, who will introduce the other directors and our independent auditor. Niko?
Thank you, Bill. The Board of Directors is attending our annual shareholders' meeting today. Apart from Bill and me, the directors are Courtnee Chun, Brendan Dougher, Randal Lewis, Chris Metz, Brooks Pennington, John Ranelli, and Mary Beth Springer, our lead independent director. Deloitte is our independent auditor. I'd like to introduce Nathan Mitchell, a partner of Deloitte, who is on the call today and will be available to respond to appropriate questions later in the meeting. Also, I'd like to remind you that the investors page of our website, central.com, contains all of the latest information about Central, including our latest annual report and our recent Q1 earnings release and quarterly report. Brad and I will be available to respond to any questions at the end of the meeting. Now I'll turn it over to Apur to conduct the formal portion of the meeting. Apur?
Thank you, Niko, and good morning, everyone. The rules of procedure are posted on the virtual annual meeting website. Please review them, and we ask that you adhere to these rules at all times. As Niko noted, stockholders will have the opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session, which will take place after this meeting has been adjourned. However, please note that you may submit questions at any time during the annual meeting in the space provided on the virtual annual meeting screen. Please follow the instructions provided on the virtual annual meeting screen to submit questions. We intend to make every effort to answer all questions. However, if multiple questions are submitted on the same topic, we will summarize them and respond collectively.
There are present at this meeting, in person or by proxy, stockholders representing not less than 8,880,142 shares of common stock, out of a total of 9,650,221 shares entitled to vote at this meeting, and not less than 1,600,459 shares of Class B stock, out of a total of 1,602,374 shares entitled to vote at this meeting. A quorum is present. Since notice was duly given and a quorum is present, the meeting is ready for business. At this time, I appoint Brett Cooper to act as Inspector of Election. After we have completed the voting, Mr. Cooper will tabulate the votes and determine the results of the voting. We will now proceed with the election of directors.
No one except a holder of record of common stock or Class B stock of the company as of December 15, 2025, or a person holding a duly executed proxy of such a stockholder may vote. I will now call for nominations for the nine directors. To save time and expedite the business of the meeting, I will ask Howard Machek, who is a stockholder of the company, to nominate the nine directors and nominees listed in the proxy statement. Howard?
I nominate William E. Brown, Courtnee Chun, Brendan P. Dougher, Nicholas Lahanas, Randal D. Lewis, Christopher T. Metz, Brooks M. Pennington III, John R. Ranelli, and Mary Beth Springer.
Thank you. Are there any further nominations? Since there are no further nominations, I declare that the nominations are closed. Most of the holders of common stock and Class B stock have signed proxy cards. Stockholders who have already sent in their proxies need not vote in person. Is there anyone else who wishes to vote at this meeting who has not yet submitted their vote? All votes should be submitted through the internet using the virtual meeting website at this time because votes cannot be accepted after the polls are closed, which will happen momentarily. The next matter being submitted to stockholders for action is the ratification of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent registered public accounting firm. At the same time, I will ask Howard Machek to recommend the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche.
I move that the proposal to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2026 be submitted to stockholders for a vote.
Is there any discussion? If not, we will proceed with the voting. The third matter being submitted to the stockholders is an advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. Again, to save time, I will ask Howard Machek to call for a vote.
I move that the resolution regarding the compensation of the company's named executive officers be submitted to the stockholders for an advisory vote.
Is there any discussion? If not, we will proceed with the voting. It is now 10:37 A.M., and the polls are now closed. Based on the information we've received from our Inspector of Elections, the votes for the directors show not less than 10,771,155 votes were cast for each of the nominees listed in the proxy statement. Accordingly, those individuals have been elected directors. The number of votes cast in favor of the proposal to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche is 17,177,566. Accordingly, the proposal to ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche has been adopted. The advisory vote to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers show that not less than 16,346,943 votes were voted in favor of this proposal. Accordingly, the compensation of the company's named executive officers has been approved.
I will order that the original proxies' ballots and report of the Inspector of Election be filed as part of the minutes of this meeting. Is there any other business to come before this meeting? Since there is no other business, the formal portion of the meeting is adjourned. The floor is now open for any questions. No questions?
Since there are no questions, I would like to thank all of you for attending our annual meeting. We look forward to speaking with you again next year.
The meeting has now concluded. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.