Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am Luc Seraphin, Chief Executive Officer and President of Rambus Inc. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Rambus Inc.'s 2019 annual meetings of stockholders. Before proceeding further, let me introduce the directors and director nominees of the company who are present today. Our Class 2 directors present today and who are also our 2019 board nominees are Emiko Higashi, Sanjay Saraf, and Eric Stang. Our Class 1 directors are E. Thomas Fisher, Charles Kissner, David Shrigley, and me. I would also like to introduce the corporate officers who are in attendance. Rahul Mathur, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance, and Jae Kim, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Also with us today are Alan Woolery, representing PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Michael Koch, representing Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, our outside corporate counsel.
I will act as chairman of this meeting. I have asked Jay Kim to facilitate and record the minutes.
Thank you, Luc. This annual meeting is being held in accordance with the company's bylaws and Delaware law. We will first address the matters described in the company's proxy statement dated March 8, 2019. We will then complete the balloting process. An announcement will be made regarding the voting results. The official portion of the meeting will be adjourned. After that, there will be a brief company presentation. Stockholders attending the meeting may submit questions regarding the meeting or the company presentation via the virtual meeting Q&A portal. Stockholder questions will not be answered during the formal portion of the meeting or during the company's presentation, but at the conclusion of the meeting.
While we welcome full stockholder participation, we may not be able to answer all questions to the extent we are restricted from doing so due to confidentiality reasons, or if the questions are deemed inappropriate subject matter for this meeting. Notice of the meeting. I have proof by affidavit that notice of this meeting has been duly given and that the notice, proxy statement, and proxy were mailed on or about March 8, 2019, to all stockholders of record at the close of business on February 28, 2019, the record date for the meeting. We have at this meeting a record of stockholders as of that date. The affidavit, together with copies of the notice, proxy statement, and proxy, will be filed with the minutes of the meeting. Inspector of election.
We have appointed Kirk Williams, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, to act as Inspector of Election for this annual meeting. The Inspector of Election has signed a note of office, which will be filed with the minutes of this meeting. Quorum. Based on a review of the proxy cards submitted prior to this meeting, the Inspector of Election has determined that out of an aggregate of 110,030,515 shares issued and outstanding as of the record date, the holders of at least 97,953,458 shares of common stock are present or represented at the meeting, which represents approximately 89% of all outstanding shares. That constitutes a majority of votes eligible to be cast by the holders of shares issued and outstanding.
A quorum is therefore present, the meeting is duly constituted, and the business of the meeting may now proceed. Voting procedures. I will now briefly describe the voting procedures. You may vote by proxy or by online ballot. Each holder of common stock is entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held of record at the close of business on the record date. If you have previously submitted your proxy and you do not intend to change your vote, it is not necessary that you submit another proxy or vote online. Your vote will already be counted. If you are eligible to vote and you have not submitted your proxy, or if you want to change your vote, please vote online now. I will announce preliminary results of the voting at the end of the meeting. Opening of the polls.
It is now approximately 9:05 A.M., the polls for each matter to be voted on at this meeting are now open. Proposal number one, election of directors. The first item of business is the election of directors. The company's board of directors presently has seven members and is divided into two classes, each with an overlapping two-year term. There are four Class 1 directors and three Class 2 directors. As indicated in the company's proxy statement, the following three individuals have been nominated by our board to serve as Class 2 directors: Emiko Higashi, Sanjay Saraf, and Eric Stang. All of the nominees are currently serving as directors of the company. Directors elected at today's meeting will hold office until 2021 annual meeting of stockholders or until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
Pursuant to the notice of this annual meeting and the proxy statement dated March 8th, 2019, the proxies solicited by the board of directors will be voted in favor of these nominees. The company's bylaws require that each director be elected by a majority of votes cast with respect to such director in uncontested elections. The board of directors, after taking into account the recommendation of the corporate governance and nominating committee of the board, will determine whether or not to accept the pre-tendered resignation of any nominee for director who receives a greater number of votes against his or her election than votes for such election. There are no cumulative voting rights in the election of directors. Stockholders as of the record date may vote their shares for, against, some, all, or none of the nominees. Proposal two, advisory vote to approve named executive officer compensation.
The next item of business concerns the non-binding advisory vote to approve named executive officer compensation. The proposal seeks the approval of the compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed in our proxy statement, and specifically in the compensation discussion and analysis section. The board has recommended a vote in favor of the compensation of our named executive officers as described in the proxy statement. Approval requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the votes cast. Abstentions have the same effect as a negative vote, and broker non-votes are not considered votes cast. Proposal three, the ratification of appointment of independent registered public accounting firm. The next item of business is to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, PwC, as independent registered public accounting firm for the company for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2019.
The audit committee of the board recommended to the board of directors that PwC be appointed as independent registered public accounting firm. As our independent registered public accounting firm, PwC would audit our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, and perform other audit-related and non-audit services as described in the proxy statement. The board has approved the selection of PwC as independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, and is asking the stockholders for ratification of this selection. If the stockholders do not approve the selection of PwC as independent registered public accounting firm, the board and the audit committee will reconsider the appointment. The board of directors recommends that stockholders vote in favor of this proposal. Approval requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the votes cast.
Abstentions have the same effect as a negative vote. Brokers have the discretion to vote any uninstructed shares. However, broker non-votes are not considered votes cast. Alan Woolery is present from PwC and will address any questions that we receive with respect to this proposal. We'll now collect the proxy cards and ballots. Again, if you have not voted and intend to vote, please do so now online. You must submit your vote in order for them to be counted as the polls will close momentarily. The Inspector of Election may not accept ballots, proxies or votes, or any changes or revocations submitted after we close the polls. Closing of the polls. It is now approximately 9:09 A.M. local time. The polls for each matter to be voted on at this meeting are now closed. No additional ballots, proxies, votes, and no changes or revocations will be accepted.
We'll now do the preliminary voting results. The proxies and ballots have been tabulated by the Inspector of Election. The Inspector of Election has provided me with a preliminary report on the voting results. With regard to proposal one, the three nominees, Emiko Higashi, Sanjay Saraf, and Eric Stang, were each elected with a majority of the votes cast and will hold office until the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. With regard to proposal two, a majority of the votes cast have voted in favor of the advisory vote on executive compensation. With regard to proposal three, the appointment of PwC to act as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, has also been ratified by a majority of the shares present in person or by proxy at this meeting.
The final results of the voting, including any ballots and proxies recorded during this meeting, will be set forth in the report of the Inspector of Election and will be included in the minutes of the meeting. The final results will also be reported in a Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC. With that, this annual meeting is now adjourned. Thank you for your attendance. We will now proceed with our company presentation. Before we go any further, I would like to note that during the presentation, we may make forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company which involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are only predictions, and actual events or results could differ materially from those predictions due to a number of risks and uncertainties.
I refer you to the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the company's annual report on Form 10-K filed on February 22nd, 2019. These documents contain and identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections of forward-looking statements. With the formal business of the meeting now completed, I am turning the meeting back over to Luc for a presentation of the company.
Thank you, Jae. I would like to share some insights on the strategy for the company moving forward. For 2019, our top priorities as a company will be centered around three primary objectives. The first will be to refocus our product portfolio around our core strengths in semiconductors, namely high-speed memory and chip-to-chip interfaces, Memory buffer chips, and embedded security cores and provisioning software. We will target leading-edge, high-growth markets like data center and networking, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, and automotive. These are markets that demand both increasing levels of performance and security, positioning Rambus as an ideal choice for high-speed interfaces and embedded security solutions. We are aligning the research priorities in Rambus Labs on innovation and patents development in these key areas as well. Our patents remain foundational to our industry.
By reinforcing our commitment to invention and advancing semiconductor technology, we enhance our value and relevance in our target markets and create a platform for investment in product development. The second objective will be to optimize the company for operational efficiency and profitability, leveraging synergies across our businesses and customer base. There's a significant overlap in our ecosystem of customers, partners, and influencers. By focusing on hardware and software solutions for secure, connected semiconductors, we are able to bring better value to our customers and improved profitability for the company. Finally, the third objective is to leverage our demonstrated ability to generate cash and reinvest in ourselves through organic and inorganic growth to amplify our market and technology positions.
These priorities will set the foundation for the company moving forward, emphasizing operational excellence and enabling Rambus to further its position as a global semiconductor leader in high-speed interfaces, memory buffer chips, and embedded security cores. In summary, we are renewing our focus on our core areas of expertise and are poised for success in our target markets, and year-on-year growth in product revenue. We are creating the foundation for future profitable growth as we continue to fuel innovation, roll out products, improve operational efficiency, and generate cash.
At this time, we'll consider any questions from our shareholders through our online portal. Okay, we're not seeing any, and we did not receive any questions in advance, we'll go ahead and close the meeting.
I would like to thank you all for attending today's meeting and for the interest you have shown in the affairs of the company. We very much appreciate your attendance, and as always, thank you for your support.