Shareholders decline to elect activist board nominees in a show of support for the current management’s strategy

DuPont’s shareholders have voted to appoint all 12 of the company’s nominated board members, quashing an attempt by activist investor Nelson Peltz to gain influence within the firm.

Peltz, with his investment group Trian Partners, owns a significant tranche of DuPont’s shares. He has been pressuring DuPont to break up into several smaller, more focused companies. However, chief executive Ellen Kullman has consistently rebuffed his proposals, calling them ‘risky and value-destructive’. She asserts that the firm’s existing strategy – which began in 2009 and includes significant cost-cutting and spinning off its performance chemicals unit – is putting the company on the path to long-term, sustainable performance.

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