by Fred Fuld III
I am surprised that there isn’t a law about this. There is a company that provides a vote exchange where you can buy or sell votes.
It is for shareholders of publicly traded companies. The company is called Shareholder Vote Exchange.
The service allows shareholders to sell the rights to the proxy votes of stocks in order to generate additional income.
Companies and activists are the usual buyers.
For example, if you own 1000 shares of Apple (AAPL), you could sell your voting rights for $187.44 to $9,372.00 per year, depending on various factors.
For 1000 shares of Disney (DIS), it would be $91.07 to $4,553.50.
You don’t need 1000 shares, You could sell your votes for 100 or 10 shares, or even 1 share.
For example, if you own 100 shares of Tesla (TSLA), your votes could be sold for anywhere between $22.37 to $1,118.55.
If you had 100 shares of Meta/Facebook (META), you might get $33.50 to $1,675.20 each year.
Here’s a summary of the Shareholder Vote Exchange:
What they do:
- SVX enables shareholders to buy, sell, and trade their voting rights for upcoming company meetings on their online platform. This allows passive investors who are not interested in voting to monetize their votes, while also giving activist investors and companies a way to acquire additional voting power.
Key features:
- Unique auction system: SVX uses a proprietary auction system designed to optimize value for both vote sellers and buyers.
- Integration with major brokers: The platform is integrated with major brokers like Schwab and Vanguard,making it easy for shareholders to participate.
- Regulatory compliance: SVX’s auctions comply with all applicable state and federal regulations, ensuring transparency and investor protection.
Benefits for shareholders:
- Monetize voting rights: Shareholders can earn cash for their votes, even if they are not interested in voting themselves.
- Increase liquidity: The SVX platform provides a market for votes, which can make it easier for shareholders to buy and sell them.
- Participate in corporate governance: Shareholders can use the platform to express their views on important company matters, even if they cannot attend shareholder meetings in person.
Current status:
- SVX is a relatively new company, but it has already attracted a significant amount of interest from investors and the media.
- The company is currently in the process of expanding its operations and adding new features to its platform.
Potential impact:
- SVX has the potential to revolutionize the way shareholder voting works. By making it easier for shareholders to buy and sell their votes, the platform could increase shareholder participation in corporate governance and make it more difficult for companies to ignore the interests of their investors.
Now with votes for political candidates, it is illegal to buy or sell a vote, according to 18 U.S. Code § 597 – Expenditures to influence voting.
But that hasn’t stopped people from trying.
Back in the year 2000, some people tried to sell their votes on eBay (EBAY).
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens with these shareholder votes.
Disclosure: Author is long AAPL, DIS, and EBAY, and is short TSLA.