Good day, welcome to the West Pharmaceutical Services Incorporated Annual Meeting. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to John Sweeney. Please go ahead.
Good morning, welcome to West Pharmaceutical Services Annual Shareholder Meeting. I'm John Sweeney, vice president of investor relations, and we'd like to thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, we'd like to remind you that statements made by management during this meeting and in the accompanying presentation may contain forward-looking statements. We ask that you please refer to the disclosures currently being displayed on the screen, and we note that a copy of this presentation is also available on the virtual meeting platform at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com West 2026. We'd also like to remind you about the annual meeting rules of conduct, which are posted on the virtual meeting platform as well. The polls for voting on the annual meeting proposals, which closed at 11:59 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time last night, are now reopened.
You may vote or change your vote if you wish using the virtual meeting platform. Please note that the polls will close shortly upon the announcement by the Chair of the Meeting. Lastly, as a housekeeping item, if you encounter any technical difficulties during the meeting, please use the technical assistance phone number that was shown on the meeting registration page. With that, I'll turn the call over to our President, CEO, and Chair of the Board, Eric Green.
Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I'm Eric Green. I will act as chair of this meeting pursuant to the company's bylaws. I now call the meeting to order in accordance with the notice of the annual meeting provided to all shareholders of the company as of the record date. Norm Finch, our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, has been appointed secretary of the meeting. Hayley Snyder-Sakala, Senior Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary, has been appointed the judge of elections. I would like also to introduce Peter Regis, who is in attendance as a representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the company's independent public accounting firm. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge our Board of Directors who are pictured here and are attending this meeting virtually. Thank you for your time and service to West.
I would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Thomas W. Hofmann for his 19 years of distinguished service on our Board of Directors. His contributions have been invaluable, and we wish him every success and happiness in his retirement. I would also like to acknowledge and thank our executive leadership team who are pictured here and are also attending this meeting virtually. We will now turn to the proceedings of the meeting. Norm Finch will report on the shares present at the meeting. Norm?
Thank you, Eric. Only holders of the company's common stock as of the record date or their duly authorized proxies are entitled to vote at this meeting. As of the record date, February 27, 2026, there were 72,081,610 shares of common stock outstanding. The judge of elections has confirmed that more than 50% of the outstanding shares are present, either in person or by proxy, such that a quorum is present at this meeting. An affidavit of mailing establishing that notice of this meeting was duly given will be included in the minutes of the meeting. In addition, please note that the following items are available for examination by any shareholder or duly authorized proxy on the virtual meeting platform.
The notice of the annual meeting of shareholders and the 2026 proxy statement, the annual meeting rules of conduct, the meeting agenda, and the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Thank you, Norm. At this time, we will consider and vote on each proposal set forth on the agenda. If any shareholder or authorized proxies have a question that relates specifically to any of the proposals on the agenda, he or she may submit them through the virtual meeting platform. The first matter to be considered is the election of the 11 director nominees set forth in the 2026 proxy statement, each to serve for a term of one year until the 2027 annual meeting of shareholders. The nominees are Mark A. Buthman, William F. Feehery, Robert Friel, Eric Green, Janet Hogan, Molly Joseph, Deborah Keller, Dr. Myla P. Lai-Goldman, Stephen Lockhart, Douglas Michaels, and Paolo Pucci. Each of the nominees currently serves as a director. No other person has been nominated in accordance with the company's bylaws. I declare the nominations closed.
The board has recommended that shareholders vote for this proposal. The second proposal seeks to conduct an advisory vote to approve the compensation of the company's named executive officers as is disclosed in the 2026 proxy statement. The board has recommended that shareholders vote for this proposal. The third proposal seeks shareholder ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. The board has recommended that shareholders vote for this proposal. The fourth proposal is a shareholder proposal regarding an independent board chair policy. The board has recommended that shareholders vote against this proposal. Operator, please unmute Mr. Chevedden's line so he may present the fourth proposal. Mr. Chevedden, please, you may begin.
Hello, this is John Chevedden, Proposal four, Independent Board Chairman. Shares request that the Board of Directors adopt a enduring policy and amend the governing documents in order that two separate people hold the office of the chairman and the office of the CEO as soon as possible. Selection of the chairman of the board requires a separation of the office of the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer. The chairman of the board shall be an independent director. A lead director shall not be a substitute for an Independent Board Chairman. The board shall have the discretion to select an interim chairman of the board who's not an independent director to serve while the board is seeking an independent chairman of the board on an accelerated basis. Now is a good time to transition to an Independent Board Chairman.
West Pharmaceutical stock was at $468 in 2022. West Pharmaceutical stock is now at $300 in spite of a robust stock market. An Independent Board Chairman improves corporate governance by bringing impartiality, objective oversight, and external expertise to board decisions, mitigating conflicts of interest, enhancing transparency, and boosting investor confidence. This detached perspective allows the chairman to focus on shareholder interests, strengthen management accountability, and provide critical checks and balances, ultimately contributing to the company's long-term sustainability and profitability. Please vote yes, Independent Board Chairman, proposal four.
We will now look to see if there are any questions in the queue that were properly submitted in accordance with the rules of conduct.
Mr. Green, we confirm that there are no such questions.
The polls are now closed. We will now hear the report from the secretary of the meeting regarding the results of the elections. Norm?
Thank you, Eric. The judge of elections has informed me that the voting results are as follows. On the first proposal, each of the director nominees named in the company's 2026 proxy statement has been reelected by a majority of the votes cast. On the second proposal, shareholders holding a majority of our outstanding shares present and entitled to vote on the subject matter approved on an advisory basis the compensation of the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the 2026 proxy statement pursuant to Item 402 of the Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation S-K, including the compensation discussion and analysis, compensation tables, and narrative disclosures. On the third proposal, shareholders holding a majority of our outstanding shares present and entitled to vote on the subject matter ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as our independent registered public accounting firm for 2026.
On the fourth proposal, shareholders holding a majority of our outstanding shares present and entitled to vote on the subject matter voted against the shareholder proposal regarding an independent board chair policy.
Thank you, Norm. Congratulations to the directors, and many thanks to all our shareholders for their support. Thank you for joining us today and for your continued support of West and our purpose to improve patient lives. This concludes the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders, and I declare the meeting adjourned.