Good morning and welcome to the Fiserv Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I'm joined today by Mike Lyons, our CEO and the Director of Fiserv, Bob Hau, our CFO, and Doyle Simons, the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Chairman, please kick off the Annual Meeting.
Thank you and good morning. Today's meeting is being held online to enable a broad shareholder attendance and provide a consistent experience to all shareholders regardless of location. We will conduct the business portion of our meeting first. After the formal meeting, Mike will provide a brief business update and answer shareholder questions. Please note that the rules of the meeting and information regarding forward-looking statements are available on the meeting website. As noted in the rules of conduct, only shareholders who join the meeting using a valid control number may submit questions via the meeting website. We may address questions that are not answered during the meeting by responding on an individual basis or by posting answers on the company's website. Please note that this meeting is being recorded and an archive will be available on our website following the meeting.
Before we address the business of the meeting, I would like to welcome my fellow board members, all of whom are in attendance today. Also with us today, representing Deloitte & Touche is Erich Grundman, who will be available as needed during the question and answer session. It is now shortly after 10:00 A.M. Central Time on May 14th, 2025, and I hereby call this meeting to order. The polls are now open for voting. Any shareholder who wishes to vote may do so by clicking the voting button on the meeting website and following the instructions. No further action is necessary for shareholders who have sent in proxies or already voted via the internet or by telephone. The Board of Directors has fixed March 17th, 2025, as the record date for determining the shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting.
Chris Sundberg is acting as our third-party inspector of elections at this meeting. Chris Sundberg has informed me that 91% of the company's outstanding shares as of the record date are present and that we therefore have a quorum. Because we have a quorum, this meeting is now legally convened. I will now present the matters to be voted upon. The first matter of business is to vote upon the election of the director nominees identified in the proxy statement to serve until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The second matter of business is to vote upon a resolution to approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our named executive officers. The third matter of business is to ratify the Audit Committee's appointment of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent auditor for 2025.
The fourth matter of business is to vote upon a shareholder proposal requesting amendments to our compensation recruitment policy. I now invite Kim Franklin to introduce the proposal in accordance with the rules of conduct. Will the operator please open Ms. Franklin's line?
Good morning. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Okay. Proposal for improved clawback policy regarding unearned executive pay, sponsored by John Chevedden. Shareholders ask the Board of Directors to amend the company policy on recoupment of incentive pay to apply to each named executive officer and to state that conduct or negligence, not merely misconduct, shall trigger mandatory application of that policy. Report to shareholders in each Annual Meeting proxy the results of any deliberations regarding the policy, including the board's reasons for applying or not applying the policy. This improved clawback policy shall be included in the governance guidelines of the company and be easily accessible on the company website. The 2024 Fiserv Annual Meeting proxy implies that the current clawback policy is primarily focused on employee misconduct.
A number of companies claimed that they had already adopted this 2025 shareholder proposal in regard to employee negligence and asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to validate their claim of adoption. The Securities and Exchange Commission refused in every instance. Wells Fargo offers a prime example of why Fiserv needs a stronger policy. After congressional hearings, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185 million to resolve claims of fraudulent sales practices. The Wells Fargo board then moved to claw back $136 million from top executives. Wells Fargo unfortunately concluded that a top executive had only turned a blind eye to the practice of opening fraudulent accounts and thus failed to attempt any clawback and left $136 million on the table. This proposal alerts Fiserv shareholders that Fiserv executives can now be rewarded even when they are negligent.
This is the wrong incentive for Fiserv executives at a time when the best incentives for Fiserv executives should be adopted. Please vote yes to improved clawback policy regarding unearned executive pay, proposal number four. Thank you.
Thank you. Your Board of Directors does not agree with this proposal for the reasons set forth in the proxy statement. The votes authorized by the proxies received from the company shareholders are hereby cast as follows: for each of the board's nominees, for the resolution to approve the compensation of our named executive officers, for the appointment of Deloitte & Touche, and against the shareholder proposal. As a reminder, any shareholder who has not yet voted should do so now by clicking the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions. I now declare the polls for the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting closed. We've been informed by the inspector of election that the preliminary vote report shows the nominees for election to the board have been duly elected. The vote regarding the compensation of our named executive officers has been approved.
The appointment of Deloitte & Touche is ratified, and the shareholder proposal has been rejected. We will report the final vote results in a Form 8-K after the meeting. The Secretary of the company did not receive proper notice of any other business or proposal to come before the meeting as of February 17th, 2025, as required by our by-laws. As there is no further business, the formal meeting is adjourned. Mike will now provide a brief update on our business and answer shareholder questions.
Thank you, Doyle. For those of you on the line, welcome to the 2025 Annual Meeting. 2024 was another year of growth for Fiserv, with continued innovation, significant wins across our businesses, and strong financial results.
We delivered 16% organic revenue growth, returned $5.5 billion to shareholders through Share Repurchase, expanded adjusted operating margins by 170 basis points, and adjusted earnings per share was $8.80, up 17%, marking our 39th consecutive year of double-digit adjusted EPS growth. These results were driven by our focused execution, effective deployment of technology and capital resources, and the expertise and strategic vision of our team, with a commitment to operational excellence. The strength and sustainability of our performance is a reflection of our diverse client base, extensive product portfolio, wide distribution network, healthy balance sheet, global footprint, and investment in innovation. I'm proud of the collective effort of our associates around the world to have achieved these strong results. In 2025, we continue to embrace the opportunities in front of us and remain focused on expanding our portfolio of value-added solutions to deepen client relationships around the world.
We are generating accelerated growth with bank partners and small and mid-sized businesses through our Small Business Integrated Suite with Clover. We continue to invest in cutting-edge cloud-based account processing systems for banks, credit unions, card issuers, and fintechs. We are also driving intelligence through data. With the help of AI, we are able to gain insights that help our clients and us optimize how we run our businesses. Our industry is rapidly changing, and we believe our company is constructed to thrive in both the short and long term. As commerce and banking are increasingly interconnected, we are positioned to help clients on both sides to meet their growth aspirations. It is a construct that is unparalleled in the market today, rife with opportunity. As we look ahead, we remain committed to excellence for our people and our clients and for creating sustainable long-term shareholder value.
With that, let's move to the Q and A. Julie, what questions have we received?
All right. We have a question about recent changes to the board. Can you provide your perspective?
Our goal is to maintain a highly skilled and qualified board to oversee our strategy and execution. Stephanie Cohen, our most recent addition, brings a strong background in strategy, innovation, and financial technology, given her experience with Goldman Sachs and Cloudflare. Other recent additions include Ajei Gopal, Lance Fritz, and Charlotte Yarkoni. Among other desirable qualities, Ajei and Lance both have experience as public company CEOs, and Ajei and Charlotte have deep technology experience. The board is committed to ensuring we have directors with the right mix of knowledge, experience, and tenure to drive the company's strategic and growth agenda.
Another question. You mentioned several recent acquisitions during the last earnings call. Can you talk more about those?
Yes, thanks, Julie. We continue to invest meaningfully and prudently in the enterprise, including through acquisition. In Q1, we announced four small but strategic acquisitions. Three of those acquisitions were focused on extending the reach of Merchant Solutions, including Clover and related products and services outside of the U.S., where we continue to have significant growth opportunities. The fourth transaction, Payfair, enhances our embedded finance offering, which connects our merchant and financial institution ecosystems through a differentiated end-to-end solution that spans digital wallets, card issuing, banking services, and more. We are excited about the enhanced capabilities that these acquisitions bring and expect to continue to invest in the company in this way, as well as organically.
Thank you, Mike. Those are the questions that we have for today. That concludes this year's Annual Meeting.