Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am David King, Chairman of the Board of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and Chairman of this annual meeting. I am happy to welcome you to this annual meeting of stockholders, our first conducted in this virtual format. Will the meeting now please come to order? All votes will be delivered to the Inspector of Election. The Secretary will record the proceeding. I would like to introduce to you the board members and officers who are present today. Directors present are Kerrii B. Anderson , Jean-Luc Bélingard , Garheng Kong , Robert E. Mittelstaedt, Jr. , Peter M. Neupert , Adam H. Schechter, and R. Sanders Williams. I would now like to introduce our senior officers present today: Glenn A. Eisenberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; James T. Boyle, Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Labcorp Diagnostics; Joseph L.
Herring, Chief Executive Officer, Covance Drug Development; Lance V. Berberian, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer; Edward T. Dodson, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer; Sam Eberts , Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary; William E. Klitgaard , President, Enlighten Health; and Lisa J. Youthkinot, Chief Human Resources Officer. Also present are Crawford Pounds and Garrett Tripp, representing PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent accountants of the company. They will be available to answer appropriate questions during the general question and answer period at the end of this meeting. After the formal meeting has been adjourned, we will provide time for general questions. Only validated stockholders will be able to ask questions using the designated field on the web portal. Out of consideration for others, please limit yourself to one question. The Board of Directors set March 16th, 2015, as the date of record for this shareholders' meeting.
We have here a record of shareholders as of that date. A duplicate record has been on file at the office of the company for the last 10 days, available for inspection by any shareholder at any time during usual business hours. I have been advised by the Inspector of Election that approximately—excuse me—immediately prior to commencement of the meeting, at least 87% of the company's issued and outstanding shares are represented by proxy at today's meeting. Since a majority of the company's shares is represented here today, a quorum is present and the business of the meeting may proceed. The Secretary has informed me that the notice for the meeting was duly and properly mailed. The Secretary will file affidavits of mailing of the notice of meeting, proxy card, and proxy statements with all records of the meeting.
There are three items on the agenda to be voted on today: the election of directors, the non-binding advisory vote to approve executive compensation, and the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Independent Accountants for the year ended December 31st, 2015. There will be a discussion period relating to each item immediately after its introduction. If any stockholder would like to make a comment regarding any of the proposals at the indicated time, please submit your comment in the designated field on the web portal. We will attempt to ensure that all stockholders' comments are read aloud and representatives of management will respond to questions. However, in the interest of time and because each of these items has been fully discussed in the proxy statement, discussion on each item will be limited to five minutes.
If you send in a proxy, you will have no need to take any further action unless you wish to change your vote. At the end of the discussion period relating to the appointment of independent accountants, the ballots will be collected and delivered to the Inspector of Election. The company has appointed Paul Cerdez to be the Inspector of Election. He is familiar with the duties and responsibilities of an Inspector of Election at a stockholders' meeting. He will report the results after all proxies and votes have been tabulated. The first item is the election of directors. The nominees and their qualifications are described in the proxy statement dated April 3rd, 2015, available to all stockholders of record as of March 16th, 2015. Mr. Eisenberg, will you please present the proposal to elect directors?
I move that the directors be elected pursuant to the following resolution. Resolve that each of David P. King, Kerrii B. Anderson , Jean-Luc Bélingard , D. Gary Gilliland, Garheng Kong , Robert E. Mittelstaedt, Jr. , Peter M. Neupert , Adam H. Schechter, and R. Sanders Williams be and hereby is elected as a director of the company to serve until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified.
I second the motion.
The meeting is open for discussion relating to the election of directors. If any stockholder would like to make a comment regarding this proposal, please submit your comment through the web portal now. Seeing no comments, the second item is the non-binding advisory vote to approve executive compensation. Mr. Eisenberg, will you please present the proposal to approve executive compensation?
I move that the company's executive compensation be approved pursuant to the non-binding advisory vote and the following resolution.
Resolve that the company's executive compensation be approved.
I second the motion.
The meeting is open for discussion relating to the approval of the company's executive compensation. If any stockholder would like to make a comment regarding this proposal, please submit your comment through the web portal now. Seeing no comments, the third item is the ratification of the appointment of independent accountants for 2015. Mr. Eisenberg, will you please present the proposal to ratify the selection of accountants?
I move to ratify the appointment of the independent accountants for 2015 pursuant to the following resolution.
Resolved that the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as independent accountants for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2015, be ratified.
I second the motion.
The meeting is open for discussion relating to the selection of independent accountants. If any stockholder would like to make a comment regarding this proposal, please submit your comment through the web portal now. Seeing none, I declare the polls shall now be open for voting. Any stockholders who have not yet voted or wish to change their votes may do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions. Stockholders who have sent in proxy statements or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their votes do not need to take any further action. I am told that the Inspector of Election has completed the count of the votes and is ready to report the results to the Secretary. Will the Secretary please present the report of the Inspector of Election?
The Inspector of Election has reported to me that of the shares of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Common Stock outstanding on the record date and represented at the meeting, at least 95% of the shares voted are present in person or by proxy and have voted for the election of the nominated directors. At least 97% of the shares voted are present in person or by proxy and have voted to approve the company's executive compensation, and at least 99% have voted for the ratification of the appointment of independent accountants for 2015. Accordingly, the motions for the election of the nominated directors, the approval of the company's executive compensation, and the ratification of the appointment of independent accountants for 2015 are passed. A final and complete tally of the votes will be provided by the Inspector of Election.
Thank you, Mr. Eberts. The Secretary will file the final report of the Inspector of Election with the records of the meeting in the record books of the company. This closes the formal portion of the meeting. At this time, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. As a reminder, only validated stockholders will be able to ask questions using the designated field on the web portal. We will attempt to ensure that everyone that has a question will have a chance to be heard, and representatives of management will respond to the questions. However, in the interest of time, we will limit each individual to one question at a time, and discussion on each question will be limited to five minutes. As a reminder, this Q&A session is being webcast live this morning. Are there any questions at this time?
Seeing none, if there is no further business, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting.
I move that the meeting be adjourned.
I second the motion.
Will all those in favor please say or indicate aye?
Any opposed? At this time, the meeting is adjourned. Thank you for participating.