2023年9月22日，我收到TD Ameritrade提供的Amazon/亞馬遜公司股份證明[1]，立即給公司發出提案。

Stockholder Proposal on Establishing a Public Policy Committee

關於設立公共政策委員會的股東提案

Resolved: stockholders recommend that the Board of Amazon.com, Inc. establish a Public Policy Committee./決議：股東們建議董事會設立一個公共政策委員會。

Supporting Statement/支持提案的聲明

Amazon needs a Public Policy Committee to assist the Board to oversee public policy issues including human rights, corporate social responsibility, diversity, equity, inclusion, climate pledge, renewable energy, net-zero carbon shipment, vendor chain management, charitable giving, political activities and expenditures, governmental regulations, international relations, unionization and other public issues that affect Amazon 's operations, performance, public reputation, and shareholders’ value. Many public policy issues have been voted at our previous shareholders meetings, many more public policy issues will come because Amazon does not have a Public Policy Committee./ 亞馬遜需要一個公共政策委員會來協助董事會監督公共政策問題，包括人權、企業社會責任、多樣性、公平、包容性、氣候承諾、可再生能源、淨零碳運輸、供應商鏈管理、慈善捐贈、政治活動和支出、政府法規、國際關係、工會以及其他影響亞馬遜運營、業績、公眾聲譽和股東價值的公共問題。因為亞馬遜沒有一個公共政策委員會，許多公共政策問題已經在我們之前的股東大會上進行了投票，更多的公共政策問題將會出現。

The corporate governance is like a social contract between the public (including shareholders, employees, users and the general public) and the corporate board: the public gives the board a free hand to run the corporate business so there is no companywide union in Amazon, there is no employee representation on board, and the board is nominated and elected without any competition (the number of candidates is the same number of board seats). Particularly for Amazon, the board needs further efforts prevent from abusing the public trust./ 公司治理就像公眾（包括股東、員工、用戶和公眾）與公司董事會之間的社會契約：公眾讓董事會可以自由地經營公司業務，因而亞馬遜不存在全公司範圍的工會， 董事會中沒有員工代表，董事會的提名和選舉不存在任何競爭（候選人人數與董事會席位數相同）。 特別是對於亞馬遜來說，董事會需要進一步努力防止濫用這種公眾信任。

About 7% of the companies in the S&P 500 had a separate board committee responsible for public policy. Considering Amazon’s giant size and complex operations of business worldwide, even if there are only 0.7% of the companies in the S&P 500 having a public policy committee, Amazon must be one of them./標準普爾 500 指數中約有 7% 的公司設有單獨的負責公共政策的董事會委員會。考慮到亞馬遜在全球範圍內的龐大規模和複雜的業務運營，即使標普500指數中只有0.7%的公司擁有公共政策委員會，亞馬遜也必須是其中之一。

這個提案是我的2023年股東會議提案的複製，因為2023年的提案得到462,033,238（6.35%）贊同,超過5%，可以繼續以相同內容提案，公司無法排除[2]。

10月3日，我意外收到（老對手）Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP律師行來函，說我的提案信（不是提案內容）中提示的與公司會談的時間範圍不符合美國證券交易委員會SEC的說法，有“程序缺欠”。我10月4日回覆說明我提示的時間範圍大於SEC的要求，不是“程序缺欠”，但也按照律師的要求重新設定會談時間範圍。

不久，公司的高級律師Ju與我直接聯繫要求會談。我們10月11日舉行電話會談。這種公司只有一人出席的會談不具有太大價值，只是例行公事，確認我的意向。我解釋說，付諸表決本身不是目的，改善企業治理才是目的。如果公司願意學習Intel、Microsoft公司那樣聽取外部專家意見並部分接受我的提案，我可以主動撤回提案。他說會轉達給公司考慮。最後，我好奇地問他來自何方。他回答說他本人來自紐約，他的父輩來自韓國，但他的先祖是中國著名的哲學家朱熹。

從我這幾年與Amazon交往的經驗，把我的提案付諸表決比召集外部專家會議改進公共政策，對於公司而言代價小多了。所以可以最先確認這個提案將付諸明年股東年會表決。

[趙京，中日美比較政策研究所，2023年11月3日]

【補記】

2024年3月12日，Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP律師行來函，確認公司將會把我的提案付諸表決，並請我過目公司董事會的反對聲明。鑑於這是董事會的正式聲明，有必要翻譯出來(6個注釋引用沒有列出)。

Why We Recommend You Vote Against This Proposal/為什麼我們建議您投票反對此提案

• Our current Board and committee structure, which allocates oversight responsibilities among the full Board and each of its committees, already provides an appropriate level of oversight of the types of public policy, environmental, social, governmental, regulatory, and human capital matters raised in the proposal.  For example, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for overseeing and monitoring Amazon’s policies and initiatives relating to our environmental, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility practices, and also regularly reviews public policy, government relations, and public relations initiatives. The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing our policies, procedures, and reports with respect to political contributions and lobbying expenses./我們目前的董事會和委員會結構在整個董事會及其每個委員會之間分配了監督職責，已經對該提案中的公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本問題的類型提供了適當的監督。例如，提名和公司治理委員會負責監督和監控亞馬遜與我們的環境、可持續發展和企業社會責任實踐相關的政策和舉措，並定期審查公共政策、政府關係和公共關係舉措。審計委員會負責監督我們有關政治捐款和遊說費用的政策、程序和報告。

• This oversight structure has supported and helped drive Amazon’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and many of the other matters raised in the proposal, as reflected by our current policies, practices, and initiatives, including for example our commitments regarding the environment, sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, and worker safety./這種監督結構支持並幫助推動亞馬遜對企業社會責任的承諾以及提案中提出的許多其他事項，正如我們當前的政策、實踐和舉措所反映的那樣，例如，包括我們對環境、可持續性、多樣性、公平和包容性以及工人安全的承諾。

• Because our current structure already provides appropriate Board and committee oversight of, and has supported and helped drive, Amazon’s commitments to such public policy, environmental, social, governmental, regulatory, and human capital matters, we believe that adding a separate Board committee overseeing such matters would be redundant and counterproductive./因為我們目前的結構已經為亞馬遜對此類公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本事務的承諾提供了適當的董事會和委員會監督，並支持和幫助推動了這一承諾，所以我們認為增加一個單獨的董事會委員會來監督 此類問題將是多餘的並且會適得其反。

Our Current Board and Committee Structure Already Provides an Appropriate Level of Oversight of the Types of Public Policy, Environmental, Social, Governmental, Regulatory, and Human Capital Matters Raised in the Proposal/我們目前的董事會和委員會結構已經為提案中提出的公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本事務類型提供了適當的監督水平

We believe that our current Board and committee structure already provides an appropriate level of oversight of the types of public policy, environmental, social, governmental, regulatory, and human capital matters raised in the proposal. The full Board has overall responsibility for risk oversight and regularly oversees and reviews reports from management on various aspects of our business, including related risks and strategies for addressing them. In addition, the Board has delegated responsibility related to certain risks to our standing Board committees, which are comprised solely of independent directors. Under its charter, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the Company’s policies and initiatives relating to our environmental, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility practices, including the Company’s progress on The Climate Pledge, risks related to human rights and ethical business practices, and risks related to our operations and supply chain and engagement with customers, suppliers, and communities. The Committee also regularly reviews the Company’s public policy, government relations, and public relations initiatives. In addition, the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee is responsible for overseeing and monitoring our strategies and policies related to human capital management within our workforce, including with respect to policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, our workplace environment and safety, and corporate culture. The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing our policies, procedures, and reports with respect to political contributions and lobbying expenses, including donations to trade associations and social welfare organizations. Finally, the Security Committee is responsible for overseeing our policies and procedures for protecting our cybersecurity infrastructure and for compliance with applicable data protection and security regulations, and related risks. These committees regularly meet with, and receive updates from, management on Amazon’s policies, practices, and initiatives relating to such matters./我們相信，我們目前的董事會和委員會結構已經對提案中提出的公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本事務類型提供了適當的監督。 全體董事會全面負責風險監督，並定期監督和審查管理層關於我們業務各個方面的報告，包括相關風險和解決這些風險的策略。此外，董事會已將與某些風險相關的責任委託給我們的常設董事會委員會，這些委員會僅由獨立董事組成。根據其章程，提名和公司治理委員會負責監督和監督公司與環境、可持續發展和企業社會責任實踐相關的政策和舉措，包括公司在氣候承諾方面的進展、與人權和道德相關的風險 業務實踐以及與我們的運營和供應鏈以及與客戶、供應商和社區的互動相關的風險。該委員會還定期審查公司的公共政策、政府關係和公共關係舉措。此外，領導力發展和薪酬委員會負責監督和監控我們與員工隊伍中人力資本管理相關的戰略和政策，包括多樣性、公平和包容性、工作場所環境和安全以及企業文化方面的政策 。審計委員會負責監督我們有關政治捐款和遊說費用（包括向行業協會和社會福利組織的捐款）的政策、程序和報告。最後，安全委員會負責監督我們的政策和程序，以保護我們的網絡安全基礎設施，並遵守適用的數據保護和安全法規以及相關風險。這些委員會定期與管理層會面，並從管理層那裡接收有關亞馬遜與此類事項相關的政策、實踐和舉措的最新信息。

This Oversight Structure Has Facilitated Our Commitments to the Public Policy, Environmental, Social, Governmental, Regulatory, and Human Capital Matters Raised in the Proposal/這種監督結構促進了我們對提案中提出的公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本事務的承諾

Our existing oversight structure has supported and helped drive our commitments to the types of public policy, environmental, social, governmental, regulatory, and human capital matters raised in the proposal. As reflected in our Leadership Principles and Positions, we are committed to corporate social responsibility and recognize that our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. Our policies, practices, procedures, and public disclosures address a wide array of matters relevant to our business, including many of those raised by the proposal such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, The Climate Pledge, renewable energy, and our supply chain. We report on these initiatives and our performance as a corporate citizen in a number of different ways, including in our annual sustainability report titled “Building a Better Future Together,” our safety reporting, and on our websites.6 We devote significant time and resources to enhancing transparency about these initiatives, which build on Amazon’s long-term commitment to sustainability and to supporting our employees, partners in our supply chain, and our communities./我們現有的監督結構支持並幫助推動我們對提案中提出的公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本事務類型的承諾。正如我們的領導原則和立場所反映的那樣，我們致力於企業社會責任，並認識到我們的當地社區、地球和子孫後代需要我們每天變得更好。我們的政策、實踐、程序和公開披露涉及與我們業務相關的廣泛事項，包括提案中提出的許多事項，例如多樣性、公平和包容性、氣候承諾、可再生能源和我們的供應鏈。我們以多種不同的方式報告這些舉措以及我們作為企業公民的表現，包括在題為“共同建設更美好未來”的年度可持續發展報告、我們的安全報告以及我們的網站中。我們投入了大量的時間和資源 提高這些舉措的透明度，這些舉措建立在亞馬遜對可持續發展的長期承諾之上，並支持我們的員工、供應鏈中的合作夥伴以及我們的社區。

Our current Board and committee structure already provides appropriate oversight of, and has supported and helped drive, ourcommitments to public policy, environmental, social, governmental, regulatory, and human capital matters relevant to our business, including the matters raised in the proposal. Accordingly, we believe that adding a separate Board committee overseeing such matters would be redundant and counterproductive./我們目前的董事會和委員會結構已經對與我們業務相關的公共政策、環境、社會、政府、監管和人力資本事務（包括提案中提出的事務）的承諾提供了適當的監督，並支持和幫助推動。因此，我們認為增加一個單獨的董事會委員會來監督此類事務將是多餘的且會適得其反。

The Board of Directors recommends a vote “AGAINST” this proposal requesting an additional Board committee to oversee public policy./董事會建議對此項要求增設董事會委員會監督公共政策的提案投“反對”票。

我思考幾天后，3月16日致函公司高級律師Ju“As our company Amazon is preparing for the 2024 shareholders proxy statement, I would like to suggest that I change the typos in my proposal so shareholders can read my proposal easier./由於我們公司亞馬遜正在準備 2024 年股東年會材料，我想建議我更改我的提案中的筆誤，以便股東們可以更輕鬆地閱讀我的提案。 English is my third language. In my 2013 proposal to Goldman Sachs, the SEC allowed me to change one word in my proposal to be voted at the meeting./英語是我的第三語言。在我 2013 年向高盛提交的提案中，SEC 允許我更改提案中的一個詞，以便在會議上進行投票。Certainly, shareholders will have no problem understanding my proposal correctly, so it is okay to print my original proposal as well./當然，股東們會沒有問題正確理解我的提案，所以打印我原來的提案也可以。”

3月18日，我意外收到了Ju的回函，同意修改我的提案的兩處筆誤。

考慮到我已經有2021年半個提案（我把付諸表決的機會讓給了提交內容相同提案的機構性股東們）、2022年、2023年和2024年提案付諸表決，我的資源和企業治理關注內容有限，就回復Ju:” You are truly the great philosopher 朱熹/Ju's descendant. Once I purposely went to Taiwan to look at his handwriting./您真是偉大哲學家朱熹的後代。 有一次我特意去台灣看他的字跡。Yes, please make the edits as you highlighted. /是的，請按照您突出顯示的進行修改。Furthermore, while I will continue to hold our company's shares, I will not submit formal proposals in the future. I would like to communicate with you and others directly regarding corporate governance concerns./此外，雖然我將繼續持有我們公司的股份，但我將來不會提交正式提案。我願意就公司治理問題與您和其他人直接溝通。”

Ju馬上回復，感謝我，並讓我以後隨時與他聯繫。

2023年股東年會上，公司的高層報酬提案只得到68%股份贊同，高達32%股份反對。除了最大的股東（創始人兼董事會執行主席Bezos）持有11%股份贊同，第2-21大的股東中有13股東（65%）贊同，3股東（15%）不明確，4股東（20%）反對；第22-51大的股東中有50%贊同或不明確，50%反對[3]。很顯然，持股第52位以下的百萬以上的中小股東的絕大多數都投了反對票。

2024年股東年會於5月22日召開，除了公司的前3個提案，有14個股東提案，顯示各種不同階層、集團利用Amazon這個超級公司的股東年會這個平台訴諸社會議題。值得關注的公司的高層報酬第3號提案得到5,878,960,949股（77.7%）贊同，1,687,781,127股（22.3%）反對。我的第4號提案得到490,254,237股贊同（6.6%），6,930,488,473股反對（93.4%），171,568,705股棄權，1,260,267,192股未投票。我的提案獲得超過5%股份贊同，可以連續明年繼續提案。我會繼續持有Amazon的股份，但我2021-2024年的4個提案已經反映了我對企業治理的主要關注，在董事會（反對）聲明的政策陳述和公共教育等方面達到了初步成果，可以把有限的資源轉到Amazon以外的公司。

[趙京，中日美比較政策研究所，2024年5月24日]

[1] 我的有些退休基金賬號依然留在TD Ameritrade，要等到2024年才轉到Charles Schwab。TD Ameritrade一直規範化地提供這些賬號里的公司股份的證明。

[2]趙京，Amazon/亞馬遜公司2023年股東年會公共政策委員會提案，2023年5月26日。

[3] Amazon Notice of 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders & Proxy Statement, p.88.