Elevator manufacturer Fujitec is becoming an unlikely test case of corporate governance in Japan, where founders’ families continue to wield substantial influence at many companies.
Fujitec shareholders rejected a raft of proposals from ousted chairman Takakazu Uchiyama to overhaul the board during the annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, a Fujitec spokesperson said. That marks another win for activist shareholders, who are capitalizing on a decade’s worth of incremental steps that are now transforming boardrooms in Japan.
Wednesday’s vote represents the culmination of a months-long revolt by shareholders against the family of Fujitec’s late founder Shotaro Uchiyama. It also marks a shift in a country that long held activist investors in suspicion, with opponents arguing they pushed for short-term gains at the expense of long-term growth.